One Equity Partners, a middle market private equity firm, has exited Netaş, a Turkish technology and telecommunications systems integration and software development company.
The interest was sold to ZTE Corp., a Chinese multi-national telecommunications equipment and systems business serving the Mobile Internet, for $101 million, subject to certain adjustments.
Headquartered in Istanbul and founded in 1967, Netaş’ is the number one system integrator in Turkey. The Company’s workforce of more than 1,000 employees provides a wide range of systems integration and technology services for public and private telecommunications companies, including outsourced technical support and software development services. The investment managed by One Equity Partners was acquired from Nortel Networks in October 2010.
“We executed a transformative acquisition in Turkey to drive further growth and together with Netaş’ management team developed a service strategy that resulted in attractive margin increases, while supporting the Company’s expansion into key regional markets,” says Andrew Dunn, Managing Director at One Equity Partners. “Netaş is extremely well positioned for further growth through ZTE’s investment, global operations and product depth.”
During One Equity Partners’ management of the investment into Netaş, the company grew by more than 400 percent and expanded its suite of products and services in Turkey and globally. Netaş, which has the most advanced R&D capabilities in Turkey’s information and communications technologies sector, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017.
“We’re pleased with the significant value that we and the management team have created for the Company and all investors during our investment management period at Netas,” says Joseph Huffsmith, a Managing Director at One Equity Partners. “With the resources of ZTE, we would expect the Company’s ability to provide exceptional technology solutions and services to its customers will only be enhanced.”
One Equity Partners has strong experience investing in technology and technology-enabled service businesses, including its recently signed transaction with Sanken North America, the owner of two semiconductor businesses; Lutech, a leading mid-sized IT system integration and solutions provider; and, Zodiac Interactive, a rapidly-growing supplier of cloud and embedded software platforms to multichannel video programming distributors.
