Keensight Capital has acquired a majority stake in Smile, a European open source solutions specialist, alongside the firm’s management and its historic investor, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners.
Founded 20 years ago, Smile has become over the last ten years a key player in the open source market in Europe, with a full range of integration services for any type of company or administration.
With a sustained annual growth of 25 per cent on average over the last five years, it has achieved a turnover of around EUR50m in 2013 and currently has more than 700 employees spread out over 17 sites (in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Ivory Coast, Morocco and Ukraine). Smile will continue to develop its offerings and expand internationally.
With its long-standing expertise in the software and IT sectors, Keensight Capital will support Smile in both its organic and external growth.
Jérôme Pujol, a partner at Keensight Capital, says: “We are very proud to support Smile today in the achievement of its ambitious projects, alongside its management team, led by Marc Palazon. The company has excellent prospects due to its unmatched features, its leading position in the open source space, and a fast growing market.”
Marc Palazon, chief executive officer of Smile, adds: “We are very much looking forward to this collaboration with Keensight Capital’s team. For Smile, this is an incredible opportunity to be surrounded by specialised investors with a deep understanding of our business, and to benefit from their international network, which will further help accelerate our development. This is a new chapter in Smile’s development. This is an exceptional opportunity for our employees and partners, and we are highly motivated to accompany our clients in their most ambitious projects.”
