h3. Five Kennet portfolio companies recognized among America’s fastest growing companies.
Foster City, September 29, 2010 - Kennet Partners, a leading growth equity investor to capital-efficient companies, is delighted to announce that five of its portfolio companies have been named in the Inc. 500/5000 list of America's fastest growing private companies.
Kennet congratulates the founders, CEOs, and the teams of its portfolio companies for their sustained commitment, innovation and performance. The Inc. 500|5000 ranks companies by overall revenue growth over a three-year period.
AcademixDirect (639% growth), led by Karen Francis, offers performance-based marketing to the post-secondary education market. Its suite of marketing services benefit from its proprietary matching algorithm, data purity assurance software, lead scoring, and targeting capabilities, that improves how colleges and universities find, recruit, and retain students.
Revolution Prep (305% growth), led by Jake Neuberg and Ramit Varma is a test preparation and online education company that helps students score higher on SAT and ACT tests and improves high school graduation rates in the K12 market. The company provides SAT and ACT test preparation services though innovative distribution models.
IntelePeer (302% growth), led by Frank Fawzi, offers a communication-as-a-service platform that enables carriers, service providers, and enterprises to access interexchange voice communication services from the cloud through its low cost, hosted VOIP peering network.
Schoolwires (248% growth), led by Ed Marflak provides social communication, community-management and productivity solutions to the K-12 education market. The company’s product suite brings together robust, flexible website and community management and web 2.0/social network capabilities in a single, user-centric solution.
Recommind (219% growth), led by Bob Tennant, offers a market leading enterprise search and categorization platform that automatically organizes, manages, and distributes large volumes of information from multiple sources for the corporate, legal and eDiscovery markets. With faster access to the right information, organizations can save time, enhance the quality of work product, increase the value of information assets, and improve competitiveness and profits.
“These are all great examples of capital-efficient businesses funded largely by customer revenues. Despite the tough economic conditions over the last two years, these companies continued to grow rapidly because they successfully developed compelling value propositions for their customers” said Javier Rojas, Managing Director of Kennet Partners. “We backed these teams because we felt they had great potential, and we are proud to continue being their partners in growth. Congratulations!”
h2. About Kennet Partners
Kennet is a leading international growth equity firm that invests in companies in North America and Europe. Kennet supports entrepreneurial technology businesses with expansion capital to accelerate growth, provide founder liquidity and build exceptional shareholder value. Kennet is an experienced investor with approximately $600 million in funds under management.
For more information: www.kennet.com.
Javier Rojas blogs on great books, technology deals and entrepreneurship at http://seekinggrowth.typepad.com/
h3. Innovative educational software company plans continued growth in delivery of high-quality test prep and adaptive learning.
Los Angeles, CA. September 27, 2010 - Revolution Prep has announced the completion of its first institutional investment since inception, a $15 million financing led by Kennet Partners, a leading technology growth equity investor. Javier Rojas, Managing Director at Kennet, will join the board.
Revolution Prep is an educational software and services company with two primary divisions: Test Prep which currently focuses on SAT and ACT courses and private tutoring, and K12 Software which provides Algebra Support and English Language Arts as well as state-adopted web-based programs to prepare students for high school exit exams with market leadership in California. The company was launched in 2002 and self-financed by founders Ramit Varma and Jake Neuberg.
The company is recognized by Inc. magazine as the fastest growing private education company in the Los Angeles area, and No.14 in the education sector of its annual Inc 5000 list. Revolution Prep has achieved three year revenue growth exceeding 300% through 2009 and is poised to become the recognized leader in standardized test preparation and adaptive learning technology within the next five years. It has already become the nation’s largest provider of on-campus SAT and ACT courses, and its innovative and effective software programs are in use by over 150,000 students. In June 2010 Revolution Prep completed its first acquisition, Ivy Insiders.
“We set out to build a company that could help students meet their true potential,” said co-founder Jake Neuberg. “We always knew that would mean leveraging the best technology and ensuring we could deliver access to a quality program, no matter what financial resources our students have. We intend to continue along this same path of innovation and growth.”
Co-founder Ramit Varma added, “We have taken the lead on pricing and quality, and throughout the growth in the numbers of students we help, our commitment to them remains the same. We have donated over $5 million in tuition waivers to financially disadvantaged students and are proud to say that at Revolution Prep, students’ needs are placed first, long-term skills are emphasized, and confidence is built.”
Kennet's Javier Rojas said, “We are impressed with the high success rate the company has achieved increasing high school graduation rates as well as its disruptive approach to the SAT Prep and tutoring markets. We believe that education will dramatically change this decade with technology enabled assessment-based learning leading the path.”
h2. About Revolution Prep
Founded in 2002, Revolution Prep is an education software and services provider that has helped over a hundred thousand students score higher on the SAT, ACT and other high-stakes exams, while dramatically improving basic academic skills. Revolution Prep was founded with the mission of transforming education by leveraging technology to provide world-class test prep to every student, regardless of the ability to pay. Revolution Prep offers programs in real classroom settings, live online classroom settings, private in-person tutoring, private online tutoring, self-guided online courses, and hybrid courses that combine real classroom courses with in-person tutoring and the self-guided online course.
h2. About Kennet Partners
Kennet is a leading international growth equity firm that invests in companies in North America and Europe. Kennet supports entrepreneurial technology businesses with expansion capital to accelerate growth and build exceptional shareholder value. Kennet is an experienced investor with approximately $600 million in funds under management.
h3. Combined organisation will provide global financial organizations with the most comprehensive compliance and risk management solutions available.
MINNEAPOLIS and BRUSSELS (September 23, 2010) - Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, a comprehensive regulatory compliance and risk management business, today announced the acquisition of FRSGlobal, a Brussels-based global financial regulatory reporting and risk management business, from The Carlyle Group and growth equity investor Kennet Partners.
FRSGlobal’s solutions enable international financial institutions to centralize multi-country risk and regulatory reporting, and address major financial regulatory, compliance and risk management requirements globally. This acquisition will enable Wolters Kluwer Financial Services to offer financial organizations comprehensive compliance and risk solutions that cover operational risk, compliance risk, and financial risk and reporting—meeting the major risk requirements of financial organizations worldwide.
“The financial crisis, globalization, and increasing regulatory scrutiny have created a complex and challenging environment for financial organizations,” said Brian Longe, chief executive officer of Wolters Kluwer Financial & Compliance Services. “Financial organizations are requiring intelligent and comprehensive solutions and services to help them address the complexities of a rapidly evolving regulatory environment. Together, FRSGlobal and Wolters Kluwer Financial Services will be able to provide global financial organizations with the most comprehensive compliance and risk management solutions available.”
With the deep in-house domain expertise of hundreds of regulatory, risk and compliance experts from Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and FRSGlobal, the business provides unmatched insight into today’s global regulatory environment. This actionable regulatory intelligence is embedded within both organizations’ products, solutions and services, enabling financial organizations to manage global regulatory compliance, reduce risk and increase operational efficiency.
FRSGlobal is the only provider to offer customers a unified solution to address the financial risk management and regulatory reporting needs of financial organizations across the world. FRSGlobal’s integrated risk management and regulatory reporting solution utilizes a common data source platform with coverage in 40+ countries. More than 1,000 financial organizations—including 41 of the top 50 banks in the world—use FRSGlobal regulatory reporting applications.
More than 14,000 financial services organizations around the world trust Wolters Kluwer Financial Services to help manage their regulatory compliance and risk management programs through the company’s risk analytics and controls; regulatory intelligence; transaction and origination management solutions; and policy and procedure management tools and solutions.
The addition of FRSGlobal creates the world’s largest compliance and risk management business focused on financial services, with more than 15,000 banking, insurance and securities customers across the globe.
“Joining Wolters Kluwer Financial Services means that our customers will have access to an even broader array of compliance and risk management solutions,” said Steve Husk, chief executive officer of FRSGlobal. “With a shared commitment to meeting the evolving needs of the financial services market, FRSGlobal and Wolters Kluwer Financial Services will be able to comprehensively address the needs of financial organizations around the globe.”
Michael Wand, managing director and co-head of Carlyle’s European Technology Partners team (CETP), said: “This achievement with FRSGlobal is a great endorsement of our original investment thesis of transforming a traditional software license business into a value-enhancing subscription-based recurring revenue model, based on strong domain expertise and content orientation. We believe Wolters Kluwer is an excellent partner for the business and wish them every success in taking the business forward.”
David Carratt of Kennet Partners added, “This transaction is a prime example of the increasing convergence of content and software, a theme we have been following closely as investors. Under our stewardship, FRSGlobal built its specialized domain expertise in compliance deeper into its risk and reporting platform, creating an invaluable solution for bank CFOs facing a growing compliance challenge.”
FRSGlobal was founded in 1989. The company has 350 employees located in 20 offices in North America (Boston, New York and Toronto); Europe (Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Lisbon, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Zurich, Lausanne, Warsaw and Cluj-Napoca (Romania); Dubai; and Asia Pacific and Japan (Hong Kong, Pune and Singapore).
Steve Husk and Serge Minne will join Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and will continue to lead FRSGlobal.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
h2. About Wolters Kluwer Financial Services
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services is a comprehensive regulatory compliance and risk management business that helps financial organizations manage risk and improve efficiency and effectiveness across their enterprise. The organization’s prominent brands include: ARC Logics for Financial Services, PCi, Compliance Resource Network, Bankers Systems, VMP® Mortgage Solutions, AppOne®, GainsKeeper®, Capital Changes, NILS, AuthenticWeb™ and Uniform Forms™. Wolters Kluwer Financial Services supports its global customers with offices in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Hong Kong. Wolters Kluwer Financial Services is part of Wolters Kluwer, a leading global information services and publishing company with annual revenues of (2009) €3.4 billion ($4.8 billion) and approximately 20,000 employees worldwide. Please visit our website for more information.
h2. About FRSGlobal
FRSGlobal is the industry-recognized leader in unified global regulatory reporting and risk management solutions. These solutions, which are enriched with content including pre-defined regulatory reports and stress testing libraries, are employed daily across the globe by firms to meet increasingly complex external (regulatory) and internal (management) reporting obligations.
FRSGlobal solutions are a combination of in-depth content and modules from RegPro and RiskPro, sharing a single DataFoundation and CalculationEngine on a unified platform.
h2. About The Carlyle Group/Carlyle European Technology Partners
Since 2002, Carlyle’s European technology team has acquired and invested in 20 small and medium-sized companies, supporting their growth, expansion and business transformation initiatives in the technology space.
The Carlyle Group is a global alternative asset manager with $90.5 billion of assets under management committed to 67 funds as of March 31, 2010. Carlyle invests across three asset classes - private equity, real estate and credit alternatives - in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America focusing on aerospace & defense, automotive & transportation, consumer & retail, energy & power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology & business services and telecommunications & media. Since 1987, the firm has invested $60.6 billion of equity in 969 transactions. The Carlyle Group employs more than 880 people in 19 countries. In the aggregate, Carlyle portfolio companies have more than $84 billion in revenue and employ more than 398,000 people around the world. www.carlyle.com
h2. About Kennet Partners
Kennet is a leading international growth equity firm that invests in companies in North America and Europe. Kennet invests in technology and business services companies, offering expansion capital for growth and for liquidity to existing shareholders. Kennet has funds under management of approximately $600 million.
For more information: www.kennet.com.
Kennet Partners Limited is authorized and regulated in the U.K. by the Financial Services Authority.
Contact:
Jennifer Marso
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
Wolters Kluwer
Financial Services
612-852-7912
jennifer.marso@ wolterskluwer.com
On Twitter: @JenniferMarso
Angela Peterson
Corporate Communications Manager
Wolters Kluwer
Financial Services
612-656-7745
angela.peterson@ wolterskluwer.com
On Twitter: @AngiePeterson
Jon Teppo
Wolters Kluwer
Vice President, Investor Relations
Wolters Kluwer
+ 31 172 641 407
ir@wolterskluwer.com
Rosanna Konarzewski
Communications Manager
The Carlyle Group
+44 207 894 1632
rosanna.konzarzewski@carlyle.com
h3. Largest pan-European shopping community will use funding for continued European expansion
London, Madrid, Frankfurt. April 3, 2009 – BuyVIP has announced the completion of a €14.9 million financing round led by Kennet Partners, a leading technology growth investor. Kennet will invest up to €11.1 million in the financing and joins existing investors Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), 3i Group and Molins Capital inversión, advised by Active Capital Partners, which also participated in this round. David Carratt, Managing Director of Kennet will join the board of BuyVIP.
Private buying clubs are showing tremendous growth in many European countries as fashion-conscious consumers are flocking to the web to save both time and money by participating in short duration sales. As a result, the online channel is becoming an integral part of many brands’ international distribution strategy. The overall European market opportunity is estimated to exceed €1 billion in 2009.
BuyVIP is the leading European private buyers’ club with more than 400 brand relationships across the region. With an online community of more than 3.5 million members and operations in Spain, Germany and Italy, the company offers a unique and efficient direct marketing channel to its brand partners.
The company operates an online marketplace which invites its members to private sale events, offering discounts of between 30 to 70% on branded goods that are either end-of-line or not available through retail outlets. Products are sourced from leading brand partners in each of its markets. BuyVIP already has effective operations in three European countries and will use the capital to expand into additional geographies in the region, building on both its brand relationships and its member acquisition program.
Every day its members are invited to more than 10 sales events, offering discounts of up to 70% on branded goods. Products are sourced directly from leading brand partners in each of its operating markets.
“The overall shift from offline stores to the Internet continues and there are substantial opportunities within this trend” said Kennet Managing Director David Carratt. “Within e-commerce, fashion is the fastest growing sub-segment, with 34% growth year-over-year. BuyVIP has been growing at more than 300% per year and we believe that the company has the team and processes in place to build a significant European business.”
Gustavo Garcia Brusilovsky, the CEO of BuyVIP said “Kennet is the ideal investor for BuyVIP because of its expertise in developing international businesses and willingness to support the extreme pace at which we operate. We are delighted to have David on board, with his hands-on experience in building international business operations. We already have effective operations in three European countries and will use the capital to expand into additional geographies, building on both our strong brand relationships and our member acquisition program.”
The round was legally supported by: Gómez-Acebo & Pombo; Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira; Araoz&Rueda; Landwell PwC and Salans.
h2. About Kennet Partners
Kennet is a leading international private equity firm that invests in growth companies in Europe and North America. Kennet supports entrepreneurial technology businesses with expansion capital to accelerate growth and build exceptional shareholder value. Kennet is an experienced investor with more than $500 million in funds under management.
For more information: www.kennet.com or contact Su Johnston (sjohnston@kennet.com) T: +44 (0)20 7839 8020. Kennet Partners Limited is authorized and regulated in the U.K. by the Financial Services Authority
h2. About BuyVIP
BuyVIP is an exclusive, invitation-only online destination where invited members discover premier brands in time limited campaigns. Products are either end of season or are not yet available thus making BuyVIP a unique platform for great deals usually 30-70% off the original retail price.
With more than 3.5 million members (Dec 2008) and more than 10 new sales campaigns every day, throughout Europe, BuyVIP is a leader in the private sales segment. Partner brands include companies such as Calvin Klein, Ed Hardy, Diesel, Adidas, Puma, Nudie, Gucci or Fendi. Investors include Bertelsmann and 3i group.
The company was founded in 2006 simultaneously in Spain and Germany by a two serial entrepreneurs Gustavo Garcia and Gerald Heydenreich. Today BuyVIP is a truly European company with more than 120 employees with subsidiaries in Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Austria. BuyVIP recently won the acclaimed Red Herring Top 100 award and has been selected by European Tech Tour.
For further information please go to www.buyvip.com
h2. About Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI)
Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, based in Luxembourg, is the Venture Capital subsidiary of the international media company Bertelsmann AG. BDMI investments focus on new trends and business models in the area of digital media. BDMI expects to support the success of portfolio companies through a close working relationship with Bertelsmann divisions (RTL Group, Random House, Gruner + Jahr, Arvato, Direct Group), enhancing their leading and innovative positioning in the media industry. BDMI is managed by an international team based in US and Germany. For further information: www.bdmifund.com.
h2. About 3i
3i is an international leader in private equity. We focus on Buyouts, Growth Capital, Infrastructure and Quoted Private Equity (“QPE”) and invest across Europe, North America and Asia. Our competitive advantage comes from our international network and the strength and breadth of our business relationships. These underpin the value that we deliver to our portfolio and to our shareholders. For further information: www.3i.com or contact Rachel Richards (Rachel.Richards@3i.com)
h2. About Active Capital Partners
Active Capital Partners, advisor to MCI (Molins Capital inversión S.C.R. S.A.), makes minority investments in European technology companies requiring startup or expansion capital. Active invests between €500,000 and €3,000,000 per transaction and also co-invests in larger opportunities. Active’s investment style is characterised by its independent and entrepreneurial management team and its international network of Venturepreneurs, advisers, specialists, who enable them to add considerable value to its investments. Some of the principal investments are Telemedicine Clinic, Polymita Technologies, Xperience Consulting and Golden Gekko. For further information: Christopher Pommerening, Tlf: +34 93 487 6666. www.acpvc.com
h3. GoViral distributes branded video content across its proprietary publisher network, creating a unique online presence for brands.
London, March 24, 2009 – Kennet Partners, the technology growth investor has announced a €6.5 million investment in GoViral, a global online distributor of branded video content.
GoViral launches branded video content across its proprietary online publisher network, ensuring high brand engagement and maximum viral exposure to the relevant demographics. GoViral’s unique positioning within viral marketing and video distribution ensures high-volume, targeted and high return-on-investment campaigns. These content-based campaigns are distributed in local languages, on local sites and with local publishers. Recognized as a leader in the segment, the company’s Seed&Track solution helps marketers reach Internet users in more than 80 countries. GoViral is based in Copenhagen, with offices in London, Frankfurt and Paris.
According to Jupiter research, online video will grow faster than any other creative type in Europe, increasing more than tenfold from €87 million (four percent of display ad spending) in 2006 to €929 million (20 percent of display ad spending) in 2012.
“We are excited about the prospects for GoViral.” said Michael Elias, Managing Director of Kennet. “Jimmy Maymann and his team have developed a first-mover advantage in a significant new market that is transforming media and advertising consumption. GoViral is an established business, fast-growing and profitable, with a global market opportunity. It is capital-efficient and highly responsive to the evolving requirements of its customers. The combination of strong market opportunity, innovative technology and effective management team makes this a very promising investment for Kennet and we are pleased to be the first institutional investor in the company.”
Jimmy Maymann, CEO of GoViral added, “We believe that the Kennet team, and Michael in particular, can add a lot of value to the business in the coming years. We have a shared vision for the business - the belief that video advertising is a key consideration that will help the online channel become the most important advertising medium in the future. GoViral already has a leading position within the digital advertising space, and this investment positions us well to scale the business to respond to the opportunity.”
As part of the investment, Michael Elias from Kennet will join the board of GoViral.
h2. About Kennet Partners
Kennet is a leading international private equity firm that invests in growth companies in Europe and North America. Kennet supports entrepreneurial technology businesses with expansion capital to accelerate growth and build exceptional shareholder value. Kennet is an experienced investor with more than $500 million in funds under management.
For more information: www.kennet.com. Kennet Partners Limited is authorized and regulated in the U.K. by the Financial Services Authority
###
European media enquiries:
Kennet - Su Johnston, +44(0) 20 7839 8020, sjohnston@kennet.com
US media enquiries:
Accelent Marketing - Theresa Maloney, +1 925 287 1509, theresa@accelentmarketing.com
h3. Business knowledge and experience with growth capital is an ideal fit for Kennet.
London, March 19, 2009 — Kennet, a leading growth equity investor in Europe and North America with funds under management in excess of $500 million, today announced the addition of Hillel Zidel to its London team.
Hillel joins Kennet from ETV Capital, a provider of debt and equity-based capital to technology and biotech companies. At Kennet he will be working with the founders and management teams of European technology companies to exploit growth opportunities, including addressing new markets and geographies, and undertaking business development activities.
“We are delighted to have Hillel join us at Kennet” said Michael Elias, Managing Director. “His business knowledge and experience with growth capital in particular is an ideal fit for us. Kennet is seeing an increasing number of investment opportunities in both Europe and the U.S., so there is a good deal for him to do here.”
Hillel Zidel added: “This is an exciting time to be making European growth equity investments. The current climate has created opportunities as well as challenges for many high-tech entrepreneurs, and the value that Kennet provides in helping its portfolio companies to capitalize on opportunities and deal with challenges is an important differentiator in a difficult economy. Kennet has a great team of investment professionals with a great track record and I very much look forward to being part of the team.”
Kennet closed its third fund, Kennet III, in June 2008 and is actively investing in technology and technology-enabled businesses. Seven investments have already been made from the fund including: Spreadshirt, the online marketplace for customized apparel; Go Internet Media, the online lead generation specialist; and Schoolwires a U.S.-based provider of communications platforms for schools and their communities.
h2. About Kennet Partners
Kennet is a leading international private equity firm that invests in growth companies in Europe and North America. Kennet supports entrepreneurial technology businesses with expansion capital to accelerate growth and build exceptional shareholder value. Kennet is an experienced investor with more than $500 million in funds under management.
For more information: www.kennet.com. Kennet Partners Limited is authorized and regulated in the U.K. by the Financial Services Authority.