About the company
Galileo is the largest private, for-profit tertiary education group in Europe, with 100,000 students across 88 campuses in 13 different countries.
Why invest
- Growing demand for higher education and continued migration from public to private sector institutions.
- High quality platform underpinned by accreditations, well-reputed brands and good employability outcomes.
- Resilient business model characterised by low capex and stable revenue driven by multi-year courses.
- Opportunity to execute on a buy-and-build strategy in the fragmented higher education sector.
About the company
Kersia was founded in 1985 as a subsidiary of Groupe Roullier. The company is a leading European provider of biosecurity, disinfection and hygiene solutions for the food and beverage, farm and healthcare industries. Headquartered in Dinard, France, Kersia operates 23 manufacturing sites and has approximately 1,800 employees.
Why invest
As a leading manufacturer servicing non-cyclical end markets with stable growth prospects, Kersia has an attractive business model with demand driven by heightened regulation and established positions in key markets. IK Investment Partners (“IK”) has prior experience in the healthcare sector and the biosecurity market in particular, with a strong focus on deal origination. Given the fragmented market and current consolidation trend, further buy-and-build to accelerate growth is anticipated. Company management has a track record of successfully integrating businesses.
Our relationship
Pantheon has an established relationship with IK, dating back to the early 2000s. Pantheon is a primary investor in eight IK funds and has acquired secondary interests in several IK funds. In addition, Pantheon has participated in a number of co-investments alongside the manager. Pantheon is an Advisory Board member in six IK funds.
Active management
Together with the management team, IK has continued to develop the company through the following value creation initiatives:
- Implemented cross-selling and operational excellence initiatives.
- Completed add-on acquisitions shortly after closing the deal (Sopura and Bio Armor).
About the company
Appetize Technologies is a provider of cloud-enabled point of sale, digital ordering and enterprise management software for multi-unit restaurants, sports and entertainment venues, education campuses, convention centres, theme parks, travel and leisure attractions, and more.
Why invest
Appetize Technologies’ business model is based on long-term contracts with a stable enterprise client base. Shamrock Capital Advisors (“Shamrock”) saw an opportunity to invest in a business exhibiting multiple avenues for growth through increased channel penetration, cross-selling and international expansion.
Shamrock has a deep knowledge of the company, having owned Appetize Technologies through a prior fund.
Our relationship
Pantheon has an active co-investment relationship with Shamrock Capital Advisors and PIP, through the Pantheon platform, has completed four co-investments alongside the manager.
Active management
Pantheon was one of two co-investors approached by Shamrock due to the deal complexity and the speed of execution required.
About the company
North American Science Associates (“NAMSA”) is a contract research organisation (“CRO”) which provides outsourced research and development services to medical device companies. The company offers product development strategy, medical device testing, regulatory and quality control testing, and clinical research services to its clients. NAMSA has approximately 980 employees and a customer base including the top 30 medical device companies.
Why invest
The depth and breadth of NAMSA’s scientific, medical and regulatory expertise is widely recognised by the medical device industry. The company is well positioned to benefit from growing regulatory complexity and the resulting trend towards outsourcing.
ArchiMed is a healthcare-focused manager with sub-sector level knowledge and expertise that enables the sourcing of proprietary deals.
Our relationship
Pantheon established a co-investment relationship with ArchiMed after completing a manager-led secondary transaction with the private equity manager.
Active management
ArchiMed has an extensive deal sourcing network and, at the time of the transaction, already had a pipeline of near-term potential add-on acquisitions for NAMSA. As a consequence, two accretive add-on acquisitions were completed less than six months after the initial investment.
The manager has also pushed forward with plans to strengthen management team capabilities and further align incentive plans. A new CEO was appointed in April 2021. He is a former Operating Partner of ArchiMed.
About the company
Visma is a leading provider of mission-critical enterprise resource planning, accounting, payroll and transaction process outsourcing software to small and medium-sized businesses and to the public sector in Northern Europe.
The investment rationale
Hg saw an opportunity to invest in a company with strong year-on-year growth underpinned by the ongoing shift towards greater digitalisation and process automation, a succession of new customer wins and scale built through over 80 add-on acquisitions.
Software is a core sector for Hg and the manager has deep knowledge of both the sector and the company, having owned Visma across its funds over the past decade.
Our relationship
Pantheon has a long-standing relationship with Hg, having made primary commitments to its funds since 2006. PIP co-invested in three other transactions alongside Hg.
About the company
Allegro is Poland’s largest online marketplace, with over 20 million registered users, allowing businesses and individuals to sell their products to consumers.
As the preferred online shopping destination for Polish customers, Allegro benefits from an iconic brand with exceptional user engagement metrics.
Allegro.pl is one of the world’s top ten e-commerce websites, attracting 12.6m customers.
The Allegro marketplace provides customers with advanced search functionality, safe payment transfer and financing solutions, a buyer protection programme and a managed delivery experience, while providing merchants with data tools and the ability to promote and advertise offers.
The investment rationale
As the e-commerce leader in Poland, Allegro is well-positioned to continue to benefit from the shift from offline to online shopping, which is underpenetrated relative to many other countries globally.
Over the course of their ownership, Mid-Europa, in collaboration with Cinven and Permira, has supported the management of Allegro’s key strategic initiatives of expanding product breadth, optimising merchant processes and innovating the technology platform.
Allegro was listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on 12 October 2020, priced at PLN43 per share. PIP continues to be invested in the company.
Our relationship
Pantheon is a primary investor in all three of the financial sponsors that backed this business.
In 2017, PIP co-invested £3.0m (€3.5m) in Allegro. PIP has also participated in three other co-investments alongside Mid Europa.
About the company
Colisée is a leading European operator of nursing home facilities and home care services agencies for the elderly.
The company, with its network of 16,000 care providers and more than 270 facilities in France, Belgium, Spain and Italy, has developed a strong expertise in the care and wellbeing of elderly people.
The investment rationale
Colisée is well-positioned to benefit from strong secular trends, such as an ageing European population and an increasing shift towards privately managed elderly care.
Led by a highly experienced management team, Colisée is a consolidator in a fragmented market, acquiring small to medium sized nursing home operators in its core geographies.
Recognised for its strong operations, Colisée has a high focus on the quality of care provided to its residents.
Colisée was acquired by EQT Infrastructure and CDPQ Infrastructure in November 2020.
Our relationship
Pantheon has a longstanding relationship with IK Investment Partners (“IK”), with fund investments dating back to 1999. In addition to Colisée, PIP has participated in several other co-investments alongside IK.
About the company
Nexi is the leading player in card and payment services in Italy. The company serves the majority of Italian financial institutions, as well as corporate and public sector clients, thereby representing a mission-critical component of Italy’s financial infrastructure.
Nexi operates in three areas: Merchant Services & Solutions, Cards & Digital Payments and Digital Banking Solutions.
The company operates in strong partnership with c.150 banks, serving 900,000 merchants and managing 42 million payment cards for 30 million cardholders.
The investment rationale
Clessidra invested in Nexi (formerly ICBPI) as part of a consortium that included Advent International and Bain Capital. In addition to a structural shift towards card payments and significant opportunities for operational improvement and M&A, the deal sponsors’ track record in the payment processing sector and their history of collaboration in a number of successful investments was a key consideration when entering into this transaction.
Our relationship
Pantheon has invested in Clessidra and Advent International on a primary basis for several years and holds a seat on their respective Advisory Boards.
About the company
KD Pharma Group is a leading global producer of Omega-3 ingredients focused on highly purified Omega-3 fatty acids for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products.
Investment rationale
KD Pharma Group is a market-leading business with key competitive advantages based on patented technology and processes. The company has an integrated supply chain that facilitates margin benefits, a strong repeat client base, and a strong brand based upon being a reliable and consistent producer of high-quality Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).
KD Pharma has grown from a single-digit revenue business to one of the industry’s largest players.
Our relationship
PIP’s long-standing relationship with German mid-market buyout firm capiton, which started with a series of primary investments, has enabled PIP to participate in this attractive investment opportunity.
About the company
Recorded Books is the largest independent acquirer of spoken audio content, selling audiobooks, educational courses and entertainment titles to both public libraries and retail channels.
By co-investing alongside Shamrock Capital Advisors, PIP was able to capitalise on the large and fast-growing audiobook market.