Cinven has sold of 40 per cent of its equity stake in Visma, a provider of business critical software to SMBs in the Nordic and Benelux region, to a group of investors led by HgCapital.
An investor group led by HgCapital, an existing investor in Visma, together with GIC, Montagu and ICG, is also acquiring 100 per cent of KKR’s stake in the Group. Cinven retains a significant minority stake in the Group. The total transaction is valued at NOK45 billion (EUR4.7 billion).
Cinven invested in Visma in April 2014 valuing the business at a total enterprise value of NOK 21 billion (EUR2.5 billion). Cinven invested alongside KKR and HgCapital, each holding a 31.3 per cent shareholding in the Group at that point. Cinven’s TMT team had identified Visma as an attractive investment given its market leading position in the Nordic region, its delivery of mission critical software to a wide customer base through a subscription model with high recurring revenues, and significant growth potential as customers migrate their legacy software applications to online cloud-based applications. Since 2014, Visma has performed strongly with attractive organic growth and numerous successful acquisitions, led by a high calibre management team.