Kennet Venture Partners ("Kennet"), an international venture capital firm, today disclosed that its funds sold their stake in Ubizen, the Belgium based provider of Managed Security Solutions for global businesses, to Betrusted, a global provider of security and trust services. Kennet's investment in Ubizen was held within Ubidco, a vehicle established to acquire a stake in Ubizen.
Ubizen had been the target of separate competing take-over bids from Ubidco and Betrusted earlier this year. In late January 2004, Ubidco purchased 34.7% of Ubizen in a public tender at €0.95 per Ubizen share. In early May 2004 Betrusted acquired Ubidco at €2.10 per Ubizen share, creating a significant gain for Kennet, even after transaction and other deal-related expenses. Prior to this transaction, Betrusted held 44% of Ubizen.
Michael Elias, Managing Director of Kennet Venture Partners, said: "When the Ubidco consortium initiated its tender for Ubizen we saw an opportunity to invest in a company with great potential in a rapidly growing market. However, following Betrusted's purchase of 44% of Ubizen, we concluded that the company would benefit from a shareholder base that had a unified view of long-term strategy.
Kennet invests in companies for three to seven years to help build long-term shareholder value. It is extremely rare for us to exit an investment in a matter of months, but this was an unusual situation, and one which generated a very successful return on our investment."
Kennet Venture Partners is a leading transatlantic venture capital firm which invests in growth companies providing IT products and business services that leverage IT. Kennet provides expansion capital to firms which want to accelerate growth and build exceptional shareholder value in partnership with an experienced investor. Kennet Venture Partners acts as an advisor to Kennet I LP, a Jersey limited partnership and to Kennet II LP, a Guernsey limited partnership. Kennet Venture Partners is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
For more information: www.kennet.com
Ubizen is the principal provider of Managed Security Solutions for global businesses. Companies rely on Ubizen OnlineGuardian(R) services to manage, monitor and support security devices 24x7x365. Ubizen's Professional Services complement Ubizen OnlineGuardian services, by helping enterprises plan and implement security policies and infrastructures. Ubizen also protects Web servers against application-level attacks with Ubizen DMZ/Shield(TM) Enterprise.
For more information visit www.ubizen.com