Disposal

RNS Number : 6730M

HgCapital Trust PLC

08 May 2015

 

HG Capital Trust plc

8 May 2015

HgCapital, the Manager of HgCapital Trust plc ("The Trust"), today announces the sale of the core Scandinavian business of e-conomic, a leading European Software as a Service ('SaaS') accounting solutions provider to small and medium-sized businesses ('SMBs'), based in Denmark, to Visma Group Holdings ('Visma'), a leading provider of business software and outsourcing services to SMBs in the Nordic region, in which the Trust already holds a substantial interest.

Following completion of this transaction, the Trust, the listed investment trust that participates in all HgCapital's investments alongside its institutional clients, will have 12% of the current NAV (£55 million) invested in Visma.  The Trust will retain a stake in e-conomic's international business and Debitoor, an invoicing and accounting light solution with over 320,000 sign-ups, through its commitment to HgCapital 6.

Two leading Nordic software companies unite to further drive cloud SMB software penetration

HgCapital has today announced the sale of e-conomic, a leading European Software as a Service ('SaaS') accounting solutions provider to SMBs based in Denmark, to Visma, a leading provider of business software and outsourcing services to small and medium-sized enterprises in the Nordic region. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Visma will acquire the core Scandinavian business of e-conomic in an all share deal with the HgCapital 6 Fund rolling c. 95%. Post transaction, HgCapital 6 investors and selected managers will retain 100% in e-conomic's international business and Debitoor, an invoicing and accounting light solution with over 320,000 sign-ups.

Visma and e-conomic share the strategy of building a leading European SaaS SMB solutions provider and can benefit significantly from each other:

•       The acquisition will allow Visma to significantly increase its presence in its core Danish market, which has so far been underpenetrated compared to other Nordic countries;

•       Visma will help e-conomic to further improve its value proposition to customers by offering several relevant additional products to e-conomic customers (e.g. payroll, mobile);

•       Visma will increase its overall percentage of SaaS revenues with the acquisition of e-conomic, becoming a leading SaaS SMB solution provider in Denmark;

•       Visma will also significantly increase its share of SaaS revenue in Sweden following this transaction. A majority share of Speedledger, the second largest SaaS accounting solution provider in Sweden, was acquired by e-conomic in late 2014;

•       e-conomic, as part of the Visma group, will continue as an independent entity, under the e-conomic brand, focused on delivering even more great products and top class customer service;

•       Copenhagen will become an important part of Visma's SaaS development centre structure to also cover additional solutions besides e-conomic.

HgCapital and members of the management of e-conomic will remain invested and roll the majority of their holdings into Visma.

HgCapital initially invested in e-conomic in July 2013 through its HgCapital 6 (2009 vintage) Fund and has since then invested further growth capital to fund expansion in other markets, including Spain and Sweden. Since the acquisition, e-conomic has successfully demonstrated that it can continue to grow its Danish customer base, with more than 75,000 SMB customers in Denmark for its core product e-conomic, as well as the ability to expand internationally. e-conomic has seen organic revenue growth of 70% over the period with expected revenue of close to €28 million in the full year to December 2015. Additionally, the business has grown its employee base over the last 21 months organically from 140 to over 240 today.

Visma, headquartered in Norway, is a leading business software and BPO services business in the Nordic region. HgCapital is an investor in the business, as Manager of its HgCapital 7 Fund, alongside KKR and Cinven and Visma management.

Nic Humphries, Managing Partner, HgCapital TMT team, said:

"Since our investment in e-conomic in July 2013 the company has continued to deliver very strong customer and revenue growth. We believe by combining e-conomic with Visma there are significant advantages going forward for both companies and its customers."

Mogens Elsberg, CEO of e-conomic, said:

"The performance of e-conomic during the past few years has been remarkable. There has been significant growth in both Denmark and internationally which is estimated to lead to 35% growth in revenue in 2015. With the shared vision of making accounting processes simple for small and medium sized businesses, Visma is the perfect partner to take e-conomic to the next level. I am also pleased that the e-conomic team have delivered substantial value to our shareholders."

Øystein Moan , CEO of Visma, said:

"The acquisition of e-conomic is an important part of Visma's focus on automation and efficiency improvement for accounting offices and SMBs in Denmark, and will contribute to further establish Visma as the leading provider of complete SaaS solutions for accounting offices and SMBs in the Nordics. We believe this will create new opportunities for existing and new customers, and increase value for Visma's owners."

- Ends -

For further details:

HgCapital

Stephen Bough                                      [phone]

Maitland

Peter Ogden                                          [phone]

Tom Eckersley                                      [phone]

About HgCapital Trust plc

HgCapital Trust plc is an investment trust whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: HGT.L). The Trust is a client of HgCapital, giving investors exposure to a portfolio of high-growth private companies, through a liquid vehicle. New investments and existing portfolio companies are managed by HgCapital, an experienced and well-resourced private equity firm with a long-term track record of delivering superior risk-adjusted returns for its investors. For further details, please see www.hgcapitaltrust.com

About e-conomic

e-conomic (www.e-conomic.com), founded in 2001 in Copenhagen, is one of Europe's leading SaaS accounting solution provider for small and medium-sized businesses with >100,000 customers for its core product e-conomic, and >320,000 sign-ups for its invoicing, expense and accounting light product Debitoor (www.debitoor.com). e-conomic offers an easy to use, time saving and collaboration enabling accounting solution to a fragmented and low penetrated base of SMBs and accountants (>3,500 accounting partners) via a SaaS subscription model. The company operates in its core home market of Denmark and serves customers across numerous other European countries, including Norway, Sweden, Spain, Germany and UK.

About Visma

Visma is the leading provider of business management software and services in the Nordic region. The group comprises three divisions which are Visma Software SMB, Visma BPO, Visma Software GLA(Government & Large Accounts). As one of few suppliers to combine software and BPO services, Visma has been a Nordic and European consolidator as the products and services have become increasingly popular among the company's more than 340,000 customers. Today, Visma is known for developing leading software solutions and high-quality services for satisfied customers in combination with financial strength and solid growth. The objective is to make the customers more efficient and competitive. Visma is headquartered in Oslo, Norway. The Visma Group is represented in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Romania, Lithuania and the UK. For further details, please see www.visma.com

Neither the contents of HgCapital's, HgCapital Trust's, Visma's or e-conomic's websites nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the websites (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

 

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