Investment in Webcentral

Oakley Capital Investments Limited

26 October 2023

 

26 October 2023

Oakley Capital Investments Limited

Oakley Capital Investments Limited¹ ("OCI") is pleased to announce that Oakley Capital Origin Fund I² ("Origin") has agreed to acquire Webcentral, a leading Australian domains, hosting and e-mail provider, in a carve-out from Webcentral Limited.

OCI's indirect contribution via Origin will be c.£3 million.

Note that the above figure only relates to OCI's share of Oakley's overall investment in Webcentral.

Further details on the transaction can be found in the below announcement from Oakley Capital^3.

Oakley Capital invests in domains & hosting provider Webcentral

Oakley Capital ("Oakley"), a leading pan-European, mid-market private equity investor, is pleased to announce that Oakley Capital Origin Fund I ("Origin" or "the Fund") has agreed to acquire a stake in Webcentral DEH ("Webcentral"), a leading Australian domains, hosting and e-mail provider, in a carve-out from its parent, Webcentral Limited, an Australia-based digital solutions company listed on the Australia Securities Exchange (ASX).

Founded in 1996 as one of Australia's first domain and hosting providers, Webcentral offers an extensive portfolio of digital services to over 330,000 small and medium businesses and 2,500 enterprises across Australia and New Zealand. The company is growing profitably with high cash conversion rates as more SMEs seek to digitise their business models.

Oakley is investing in Webcentral in partnership with veteran hosting entrepreneurs Jochen Berger and Tom Strohe, marking the latest in a series of successful collaborations in this space, including Intergenia, HEG, WebPros and Contabo. The investment reflects Oakley's ability to leverage its network of entrepreneurs, its sector focus and buy-and-build track record to unearth attractive investment opportunities.

Oakley and its partners will apply their extensive experience scaling SaaS and hosting companies across Europe to help Webcentral unlock opportunities in a fragmented, international hosting market that continues to grow, as global demand for cloud infrastructure solutions accelerates.

Peter Dubens, Founder and Managing Partner of Oakley Capital, commented, "We look forward to working alongside Joe and his management team to further develop Webcentral into a leading hosting business and accelerate its growth. We also welcome the opportunity to achieve this in partnership with our long-term partners Tom Strohe and Jochen Berger, proven leaders in the webhosting space who we have been fortunate enough to collaborate with over the last ten years."

Joe Demase, Managing Director of Webcentral, commented, "Oakley and their partners combine a deep understanding of the domains and hosting sector with a proven value creation playbook. In partnership with Tom and Jochen, the Oakley team is uniquely positioned to support the next stage of Webcentral's growth, enabling us to expand our capabilities, further improve our services to clients, and pursue new growth opportunities."

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For further information please contact:

Oakley Capital Limited

[phone]

Steven Tredget

Greenbrook Communications Limited

[phone]

Rob White / Michael Russell

Liberum Capital Limited (Financial Adviser & Broker)

[phone]

Chris Clarke / Darren Vickers / Owen Matthews

Notes:

LEI Number: 213800KW6MZUK12CQ815

¹ About Oakley Capital Investments Limited ("OCI")

OCI is a Specialist Fund Segment ("SFS") traded investment vehicle that aims to provide shareholders with consistent long-term capital growth in excess of the FTSE All-Share Index by providing liquid access to private equity returns through investment in the Oakley Funds.

A video introduction to OCI is available at https://oakleycapitalinvestments.com/videos/

The contents of the OCI website are not incorporated into, and do not form part of, this announcement.

² The Oakley Funds

Oakley Capital Private Equity L.P. and its successor funds, Oakley Capital Private Equity II, Oakley Capital Private Equity III, Oakley Capital IV, Oakley Capital V, Oakley Capital Origin Fund and Oakley Capital Origin Fund II are unlisted lower-mid to mid-market private equity funds that aim to provide investors with significant long-term capital appreciation. The investment strategy of the Funds is to focus on buy-out opportunities in industries with the potential for growth, consolidation and performance improvement. The Oakley family of funds also includes Oakley PROfounders Fund III and Oakley Touring Venture Fund, which are venture capital funds focused on investments in entrepreneur-led, disruptive, technology led companies.

³ Oakley Capital, the Investment Adviser

Founded in 2002, Oakley Capital Limited has demonstrated the repeated ability to source attractive growth assets at attractive prices. To do this it relies on its sector and regional expertise, its ability to tackle transaction complexity and its deal generating entrepreneur network.

Important information

Specialist Fund Segment securities are not admitted to the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority. Therefore, the Company has not been required to satisfy the eligibility criteria for admission to listing on the Official List and is not required to comply with the Financial Conduct Authority's Listing Rules.

The Specialist Fund Segment is intended for institutional, professional, professionally advised and knowledgeable investors who understand, or who have been advised of, the potential risk from investing in companies admitted to the Specialist Fund Segment.

This announcement may include "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements are statements regarding the Company's objectives, intentions, beliefs or current expectations with respect to, amongst other things, the Company's financial position, business strategy, results of operations, liquidity, prospects and growth. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future.  Accordingly the Company's actual future financial results, operational performance and achievements may differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the statements. Given these uncertainties, prospective investors are cautioned not to place any undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as at the date of this announcement. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect actual results or any change in the Company's expectations with regard to them or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based unless required to do so by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the Listing Rules or Prospectus Regulation Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority or other applicable laws, regulations or rules.

 

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