Gaming

Nyx Interactive, an award-winning provider of innovative gaming systems and software platforms to the regulated online gaming industry has combined forces with NextGen Gaming, a leading Australia-based independent provider of proprietary and branded games across online, land-based, social and mobile gaming distribution channels. EOC Partners arranged the transaction and were advisers to Nyx Interactive.

The acquisition brings together two experienced international software providers leveraging their compatible customer base and complementary product offerings to deliver a broader roadmap of products and services to their customers. The combined business will own a catalogue of over 300 gaming titles with more than 40 customers.

Enterprise software

TARGIT is Europe's largest pure-play developer of business intelligence products and the fastest growing in terms of revenue according to IDC. EOC Partners was sole adviser to Nordic Venture Partners (NVP) in the successful exit of their 34% holding in the company for USD 10m. NVP had been investors since 2003 and with their backing the company quadrupled revenue, entered the Gartner Magic Quadrant and became an internationally renowned business with 300,000 named users of their BI software. The minority sale/replacement capital transaction followed a process where EOC Partners advised the TARGIT board on a range of strategic options.

Mobile/Telecoms

ServiceFactory, a subsidiary of listed company Birdstep Technology, was sold to Aptilo Networks. Birdstep Technology was advised by EOC Partners. Birdstep Technology is a leading global provider of secure wireless connectivity software for operators, enterprises and mobile device manufacturers, and ServiceFactory is a supplier of service and policy management solutions for mobile operators. This transaction was executed simultaneously with the sale of Aptilo Networks to private equity company Norvestor.

Mobile/Telecoms

EOC Partners advised Birdstep Technology on the sale of its Aptilo Networks holding to private equity firm Norvestor. Aptilo Networks is the global leader in pre-integrated management solutions for control of billing, user services and access in Wi-Fi, WiMAX and LTE networks. This transaction, sourced by EOC Partners as part of the sale of a majority position in Aptilo to Norvestor, was executed simultaneously with the sale of ServiceFactory to Aptilo (see above).

E-commerce

Whiteaway, founded in 2003, a market-leading internet retailer of “white goods” and appliances in Nordic countries, has received a strategic investment from Cumulonimbus Capital Partners. The investment was led for Cumulonimbus by Magnus Wiberg, founder of numerous internet and e-commerce businesses including Pricerunner. EOC Partners was advisor to Whiteaway in the transaction.

E-commerce

Publicly-listed online travel agency Travelpartner was advised by EOC Partners in its sale to European Travel Interactive (eTRAVELi). Travelpartner operates 20 localised sites, with Sweden, Norway, UK, Spain and Germany being the key markets. This again illustrates EOC Partners position as one of Europe’s leading advisors in the e-commerce sector, and is our second online travel agency sale of the year.

Software/Cloud

Netherlands/UK based Prime Technology Ventures has led a growth capital investment of $13m in Cint, the world-leading provider of innovative SaaS software and transaction services for the market research sector. EOC Partners was sole investment banking advisor to Cint.

Security/IT Services

EOC Partners is pleased to announce the sale of Secode, the Digital Security Company, to NTT Communications Corporation of Japan. Secode is the leading provider of Managed Security Services in Northern Europe and has subsidiaries in Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. EOC Partners LLP was sole investment banking advisor to the sellers, which included private equity house Norvestor.

E-commerce

TravelStart is one of Scandinavia’s leading Online Travel Agencies, with annual sales of over $200m. EOC Partners was sole advisor to TravelStart in the sale of TravelStart Europe to European Travel Interactive (the eTRAVELI group). The enlarged eTRAVELi group now expects annual sales of $700m. Owner of TravelStart Stephan Ekbergh, one of the pioneers of the online travel business, will continue to own and operate the TravelStart brand outside Europe, and the separation of the parts of the business in was way that made commercial sense for all parties was a critical part of the transaction process.

Mobile/semiconductor

Anoto is a publicly-listed company concentrating on digital pen technology. Out of its operations it had grown a video technology subsidiary called Logipard which had developed semiconductor IP with broad application beyond Anoto, in particular for mobile devices, and the decision was taken to release the value created in the subsidiary. EOC Partners was engaged to advise on a sale process, and a sale was successfully concluded with ARM Holdings plc in the UK, the world’s largest semiconductor IP company.

E-commerce/online marketing

In a start-to-finish process which took less than three months, EOC Partners advised Livebookings on its growth equity financing of €9 million, led by leading European venture capital company Wellington Partners. Livebookings is Europe’s largest online restaurants reservations and marketing network, and the financing will be used to fund the company’s aggressive international growth. Following on from an earlier funding round led by Balderton Partners, this brings to almost $30m the financing achieved by the company in less than eighteen months, all through transactions with EOC Partners as sole advisor to the company.

Cleantech/renewable energy

Statkraft is Europe’s largest producer of renewable energy and has annual sales greater than $5 billion. EOC Partners was engaged by Statkraft to provide transaction advice in connection with certain strategic options.

Mobile software/social networking

In a breakthrough transaction, EOC Partners advised ZYB on its sale to Vodafone, the first mobile internet acquisition for the world’s leading mobile communications group. The transaction valued ZYB at over $49 million. ZYB has led the development of the "social phonebook" and had attracted attention from major mobile technology and internet companies worldwide.

Education services

A household name in Sweden, Liber Hermods has helped educate millions since it began in 1898. EOC Partners advised on the MBO of the company, advising the management and arranging the equity and debt financing for the buyout. The seller was Netherlands-headquartered Infinitas Learning, owned by Bridgepoint Capital, which had previously been the Education Division of Wolters Kluver. The equity sponsor was Catella Investments.

Healthcare software

EOC Partners was sole advisor to publicly-listed healthcare software company Profdoc in its acquisition of Ascott Software, adding to its strong position in providing systems and services for practice management and patient records. Working closely with the company, EOC Partners sourced and screened multiple acquisition target opportunities across Europe, and when the decision was taken to focus on Ascott Software, it managed a complex process which required corporate reorganisation in the target group in order to provide Profdoc with exactly what it required.

Enterprise software

Enterprise feedback management software providers Easyresearch and Questback have joined forces to create the European leader in their market. Both companies featured in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA list, with Easyresearch showing 5-year growth greater than 500%. The major owner of the combined company will be private equity house Reiten. The transaction involved was a sale of Easyresearch, and EOC Partners was sole advisor to the sellers.

E-commerce/online marketing

Leading European venture capital company Balderton Capital has led an investment round of £6.5 million in Livebookings, Europe’s leading online restaurants reservations and marketing network. EOC Partners was sole advisor to the company. Restaurant members are able to receive real-time bookings from more than 500 reservations partners including TimeOut, lastminute.com, Americam Express. MSN and Ticketmaster, with a collective potential market of over 200 million diners.

Online marketing

Total Management, the leading Finnish online marketing company, has been sold to publicly-listed French interactive agency NetBooster, with EOC Partners as sole advisor to the sellers. Total Management provides search engine marketing and optimisation as well as media campaign management for a range of blue chip companies.

Online gaming and services

EssNet, the world leader in server-based gaming, a pioneer in gaming via internet, mobile and interactive TV channels, and a major provider of turnkey online lottery systems worldwide, has been sold to Scientific Games of the US and Aristocrat Leisure of Australia for a total of 880 million Swedish kronor. EOC Partners was sole advisor to the sellers in a complex transaction which involved splitting the company into two parts in order to provide the maximum value for selling shareholders. For EOC Partners this was the conclusion of a highly successful relationship with EssNet which began with the introduction of venture capital investors.

E-commerce/online marketing

Pricerunner, one of the best known and most respected comparison shopping businesses in Europe, has been sold to integrated online marketing company ValueClick of the US for $36 million. EOC Partners was sole advisor to the sellers in the transaction, which included leading VC and private equity investors Spark Ventures, 3i and Northzone.

E-commerce/financial services

NetGiro Systems is an international payment services provider which supports multiple payments methods in over 40 countries, and has leading customers worldwide including Expedia, eBay and PayPal. NetGiro has been acquired by Nasdaq-listed Digital River for an initial payment of $27 million, and EOC Partners was sole advisor to the sellers.

E-commerce/retail

Webhallen, the leading Swedish online and offline retailer of games and consumer electronics, has been acquired by major European consumer electronics Pixmania, headquartered in France and with sales in 24 countries. Webhallen has shown great success with its combination of strong online sales and destination stores. EOC Partners was sole advisor to the sellers.

Financial software

Adra Match is Europe’s leading supplier of financial software in particular for the automation of account reconciliation, and its software is uder by over 3000 companies. Adra, previously publicly traded, has been acquired by a company owned by Pod Holdings and Via Venture Partners and taken private. EOC Partners was sole advisor to Adra in this transaction.

Cleantech/renewable energy

Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) is one of the world's largest suppliers of polysilicon and wafers for solar applications, and a manufacturer of solar cells and modules. EOC Partners was engaged by REC to provide transaction advice in connection with certain strategic options.

Mobile/services

Apis Technical Training is one of the world's leading training providers in the mobile telecoms sector. Apis's competence building training programs are geared to meet the needs of the mobile telecoms operators, system vendors and consultants worldwide. EOC Partners advised the buyers in the MBI of Apis, including arranging equity and debt.

Mobile/services

Northstream is a provider of strategic and advisory services to most of the top tier mobile communication service providers and equipment suppliers worldwide. EOC Partners was sole adviser to the sellers in the acquisition of the company by InCode Telecom Group, owned by Sequoia Capital, with the Group subsequently being acquired by Verisign.

Online gaming and services

EOC Partners was sole adviser to EssNet in its €15.6 million equity financing, “probably the biggest investment of the year in a private company in Sweden”. EssNet is one of the leading suppliers in the gaming industry, designing, implementing and servicing on-line systems for lotteries and gaming companies world-wide, and has a leading position in gaming via internet, mobile and interactive TV channels.

Financial software and services

US-headquartered Lexit Financial Group is one of the pioneers of direct market access trading, developing its own systems and acting as a broker/dealer in the US and Europe. EOC Partners was sole adviser to the seller in the acquisition of the company by NeoNet, a global agency broker.

Semiconductors

Aspex Semiconductor is a fabless semiconductor company that has developed groundbreaking massively parallel chip technology. The company supplies its chips as well as licensing IP, and the products have particular application in high-end video processing. EOC Partners was sole advisor to the company in its equity financing of £6 million.

Online gaming and services

EOC Partners was advisor to Telenor, one of the world's major mobile operators, in the divestment of its holding in EssNet, a major provider of turnkey online gaming and lottery systems worldwide.

EOC Partners LLP has a strong record of successfully completed M&A and financing transactions, including transactions involving public and private companies in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.