Money Buzz! Europa

Category: Investment

  • Swiss Olympe raises CHF 2.5 million in investment round

    Swiss Olympe raises CHF 2.5 million in investment round

    Olympe announced the closing of a 2.5 million Swiss franc funding round on 31 July 2020. Olympe is a disruptive software development platform for large companies.

    This fundraising also welcomed Inter Invest Capital, leading management company in this funding round, as a new shareholder and its Co-founder and Partner Benjamin Cohen on Olympe’s Board of Directors.

    This round also opened up the capital to several employees who were eager to become more involved in the company.

    In addition, the general shareholders’ meeting decided to extend the subscription period to 31 October 2020, for an additional amount of up to one million Swiss francs.

    After this investment, Olympe’s co-founders and their 30 teammates will be able to accelerate the platform’s marketing phase by reinforcing the sales and marketing team. 

  • Austrian Post increased its share in Turkish Aras Cargo to 80%

    Austrian Post increased its share in Turkish Aras Cargo to 80%

    Austrian Post has held a 25 percent stake in the Turkish parcel services provider Aras Kargo a.s. since 2013. At that time, the basic intention and understanding with the Aras family, founders and owners of Aras Kargo, was for Austrian Post to increase its shareholding.

    The formal closing of the transaction to raise Austrian Post’s stake to 80 percent took place on 25th August 2020. Baran Aras will continue to own a 20 percent shareholding in Aras Kargo and will also serve on its Executive Board.

    “I am pleased that the increase in our shareholding in Aras Kargo, which was agreed upon many years ago, has finally taken place. Turkey is an attractive, dynamic, and strongly growing market”, says Georg Pölzl, Chief Executive Officer of Austrian Post.  
     
    The company plans to further expand the business of Aras Kargo in the future.

  • Finnish company TrademarkNow acquired by Corsearch Inc

    Finnish company TrademarkNow acquired by Corsearch Inc

    Corsearch announced the acquisition of the industry leading Legal Tech company, TrademarkNow. The acquisition extends Corsearch’s trademark search and watch capabilities.

    The acquisition further enhances Corsearch’s end-to-end platform, which provides users with an integrated workflow that moves from initial trademark screening to anti-counterfeiting investigations.

    Mikael Kolehmainen, CEO & Co-founder of TrademarkNow, said: “Coming together with Corsearch will mean that together we can transform the work of trademark professionals by providing instantaneous data in a secure, structured, and easy-to-use way.”

    TrademarkNow provides an intelligent web-based trademark management platform that is used by enterprise companies, law firms, and branding agencies for instant trademark search and watch results. 

  • Afterpay acquires Pagantis and enters Spain, France, and Italy markets

    Afterpay acquires Pagantis and enters Spain, France, and Italy markets

    Afterpay, the leader in “Buy Now, Pay Later” payments, announced that it has entered into an agreement with NBQ Corporate SLU to acquire Pagantis SAU and PMT Technology SLU.

    Pagantis is a European company that offers payment services for ecommerce merchants across Spain, France, and Italy.

    According to Afterpay ”Southern Europe has an addressable ecommerce market which exceeds €150b (US$[177b) across Spain, Italy and France. With large millennial populations, a strong fashion and beauty market, and significant consumer debit card usage, there is a strong opportunity to offer BNPL services”.

    As part of the agreement, NBQ will receive a minimum €50m, with €5m in cash payable at completion of the acquisition and a deferred consideration of a minimum of €45m, payable three years after completion of the agreement.

    Deferred consideration can exceed €45m, provided the equity value of Pagantis exceeds €45m after three years. 

    Afterpay will offer Pagantis’ BNPL products under its European brand, Clearpay. Pagantis founder and CEO, Rolf Cederström, will continue leading the new European team.

    Pagantis’ existing credit products will be discontinued.

  • C&A AG sold its China operations to Zhongke Tongrong Private Equity

    C&A AG sold its China operations to Zhongke Tongrong Private Equity

    The Board of C&A AG announced that it has entered into an agreement on the sale of C&A China to Beijing Zhongke Tongrong Private Equity Investment Fund.

    The sale is an opportunity to accelerate the growth of one of Europe’s retail brands within the Chinese market.

    Duan Xuefeng, Executive Director of Zhongke Tongrong Private Equity, said: ”C&A is a valuable global brand and one of the world’s largest users of organic cotton. As cities in China are gradually reopening following the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe there is an exciting opportunity to drive further local expansion.”

    Jim Dubow, Managing Director of C&A China, added: ”The opportunity in China is vast, even in the aftermath of COVID-19. All C&A China employees look forward to working very closely with the new investors to accelerate the success of the C&A business and brand in China.”

    The financial details around this transaction will not be disclosed.

  • Powertrain developer AVL receives EIB top-up financing of €50 million

    Powertrain developer AVL receives EIB top-up financing of €50 million

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a €50 million loan to AVL List GmbH (AVL). The Austrian company specialises in the development of innovative powertrain systems for global automotive and transport industries.

    The EIB financing comes on top of a €70 million loan signed in December 2017 to support AVL’s electric drive-related activities, including selected R&D projects for hybrid and fully electric powertrains, as well as advanced driver assistance systems for connected and autonomous vehicles.

    AVL List GmbH is the world’s largest independent company for the development, simulation and testing of powertrain systems (hybrid, combustion engines, transmission, electric motors, batteries and software) for passenger cars, trucks and stationary high-performance engines.

    AVL has more than 11.500 employees all over the world. In 2019, sales revenues reached €1.97 billion.

  • Central European private equity firms hit lowest confidence level

    Central European private equity firms hit lowest confidence level

    Central Europe’s private equity (PE) firms’ confidence hits lowest level since the global financial crisis, as a result of the COVID-19 impact, but deal-doers are more optimistic than during the 2008 crisis, according to the latest Deloitte CE Private Equity Confidence Survey.

    The confidence index, which has been decreasing since the end of 2017, is now at 62, the second historical lowest after October 2008, when it reached 48.

    Seven in ten professionals in Central Europe private equity houses forecast a decline in market activity and worsening economic conditions, given that the regional economies, which are largely consumer-driven, are expecting significant GDP contraction in 2020 amid demand shrink caused by unemployment rise.

    The survey results also indicate a noteworthy proportion of believers in a quick economic recovery, as 13% of respondents actually expect conditions to improve.

    The pandemic is creating a buyers’ market, with 74% of the survey respondents believing 2020 will be a good vintage.

    Nearly half (45%) of them believe vendors have decreased their price expectations over the last six months, and over half (51%) believe they will continue to do so. As a result, the proportion of PE firms expecting to focus on new investments in the coming months remains relatively high, of 45%.

    In terms of deal sizes, most private equity houses expect them to stay the same (58%) or decrease (43%). Also, 62% of the survey respondents expect liquidity to decrease over the coming months.

    The survey results also show a steep increase in the proportion of respondents who feel the efficiency of their CE financial investments will decline, the second-highest percentage in the survey’s history, after the one reported in the autumn of 2008.

    Nearly a third (30%) expect efficiency to decline, up from just 6% in the previous survey and 0% a year ago.

  • SecurifAI lists on SeedBlink and aim to reach a value of EUR 15 million

    SecurifAI lists on SeedBlink and aim to reach a value of EUR 15 million

    The founders of SecurifAI, developer of video analysis solutions recorded by surveillance or monitoring cameras, aim to get 200,000 euros by listing on the crowdfunding platform SeedBlink.

    The listing on the platform dedicated to technology start-ups will take place tomorrow, August 25.

    The company was launched in 2016 by Valeriu Filip, Andrei Gogan – IT specialists with almost 20 years of experience – and Radu Ionescu, Professor Dr. at the Department of Artificial Intelligence (Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of the University of Bucharest).

    The amount of 200,000 euros will be used in the next 16 months for the development of SecurifAI’s technical and sales teams. At this moment the company has ten employees.

    The investment round will be led by GapMinder, a capital fund that last year invested 50,000 euros in SecurifAI.

    SecurifAI’s management estimates that through this listing it will obtain 75,000 euros from the GapMinder fund and 125,000 euros from the investors on SeedBlink, with the possibility of overwriting up to the limit of 150,000 euros.

    So far, SecurifAI has obtained funds of approximately 250,000 euros: 200,000 euros representing research grants and 50,000 euros as a pre-seed investment from GapMinder.

    The co-founders also invested over 200,000 euros during the four years since the company was created.

    International expansion in the USA

    One of SecurifAI’s main objectives for the next years is to expand internationally.

    Thus, recently, the company opened an office in Sussex (Delaware State, USA) and applied for the registration of a patent in the USA in the field of work safety (HSSE), more precisely the detection of persons wearing protective equipment.

    To support the development of other markets, the three co-founders of SecurifAI want to get in the next three years a Series A investment – the amount of money is estimated to be around one million euros.

    The company will close the year 2020 with revenues of approximately 150,000 euros, and for next year the management estimates 250-300,000 euros.

  • COVID-19 pandemic slows global IPO activity in 2020

    COVID-19 pandemic slows global IPO activity in 2020

    The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to play a significant role in declining IPO activity in the first half of 2020 – as shown in the quarterly report EY – Global IPO trends: Q2 2020.

    Overall, Q2 2020 saw a decline in IPO activity from Q2 2019 across all regions by deal numbers and for the Americas and EMEIA by proceeds.

    Global IPO activity slowed dramatically in April and May, with a 48% decrease by volume (97 deals) and a 67% decrease in proceeds (US$13.2b) compared to April and May 2019.

    This dragged down 1H 2020 regional activities compared with 1H 2019 and overall YTD deal volume (419 deals) and proceeds (US$69.5b) decreased 19% and 8%, respectively, from YTD 2019.

    Despite a late flurry of deals in June, global IPO activity was sluggish on Americas and EMEIA stock exchanges YTD, while Asia-Pacific IPO activity increased.

    Americas deal volume (81 deals) and proceeds (US$24.5b) both fell by 30% compared with YTD 2019, while EMEIA IPO deal volume (68 deals) and proceeds (US$10.1b) fell 50% and 44%, respectively.

    Asia-Pacific IPO activity rose 2% by deal numbers (270 deals) and rose 56% by proceeds (US$34.9b) compared with YTD 2019.

    The technology, industry and health sectors dominated IPO activity in the first half of 2020

    The technology, industrials and health care sectors dominated in YTD 2020. Technology saw 87 IPOs raise US$17.2b, industrials saw 83 IPOs raise US$9.6b and health care had 76 IPOs that raised US$15.9b.

    Americas deal landscape slows

    US exchanges still accounted for the majority of IPOs in the Americas in the first half of 2020, with 79% by deal volume (64 deals) and 91% by proceeds (US$22.3b); this included five unicorn IPOs.

    The health care and technology sectors continued to have the highest level of IPO activity in the US in YTD 2020, representing 55% and 25% by deal volume, respectively. The health care sector dominated in proceeds (US$10.2b), contributing 46%, from 35 IPOs.

    The Mexican stock exchange posted one IPO valued at US$1.1b, making it the eighth-largest IPO globally in Q2 2020.

    Asia-Pacific IPO activity remains stable

    Although year-on-year YTD 2020 IPO activity in Asia-Pacific rose by deal number (2%) and proceeds (56%), Q2 2020 saw a decline of 18% compared with Q2 2019 by deal number, while proceeds rose by 28%.

    Asia-Pacific exchanges accounted for four of the top five exchanges by deal volume and three of the top exchanges by proceeds. Globally, by proceeds, NASDAQ led YTD 2020, followed by the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Hong Kong Stock Exchange. By deal volume, Shanghai, Hong Kong and NASDAQ markets led the way.

    In Greater China, IPO activity was up 29% by volume (179 deals) and 72% by proceeds (US$30.9b) YTD 2020 compared with YTD 2019.

    In Japan, IPO volume (34 deals) declined 17% YTD 2020, while proceeds (US$625m) dropped by 53%. Australia and New Zealand IPO activity was also down YTD — 41% by volume and 82% by proceeds.

    EMEIA also sees IPO deal slowdown

    After a strong start to 2020, YTD IPOs (42) and proceeds (US$7.8b) declined 47% by volume and 48% by proceeds in Europe, as the COVID-19 pandemic significantly curtailed IPO activity from March through to May.

    In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), IPO activity was down 11% by volume (8 IPOs) and down 43% by proceeds (US$0.9b) YTD 2020.

    Indian exchanges saw 16 IPOs, which raised US$1.4b YTD 2020, a decline of 61% by deal number and 9% decrease by proceeds. There was also one IPO each on the Malawi and Bangladesh exchanges, which raised US$29m and US$7m, respectively.

    H2 2020 outlook: IPO rebound expected

    Given the COVID-19 outbreak and its negative impact on global economic activities, in the short to medium term, governments around the world will continue to implement policies and stimulate economies against rising unemployment.

    At the same time, central banks will inject more liquidity into the financial systems. Both actions bode well for equity markets and IPO activity in 2H 2020.

  • BaronMerino project, 61 % funded after 11 days on Kickstarter

    BaronMerino project, 61 % funded after 11 days on Kickstarter

    The Kickstarter campaign of Tyrolean start-up BaronMerino was ignited July 30th at 6:00 am (CET). After eleven days, great progress was already achieved and more than 60% of the project objective reached.

    Markus Hörtnagl’s vision is the creation of business fashion with a pleasant feeling in everyday life, which ensures well-being in stressful situations and is the perfect outfit also for afterwork activities.

    The founder defines the corporate goal as “the production of fair clothing for work and everyday life, socially acceptable, with the highest quality and standards.”

    To realize this vision, the founder launched a crowdfunding campaign on the international platform Kickstarter.

    The patented material helps to prevent sweat and smell, is hypoallergenic, soft on the skin, regulates body temperature, is also sustainably produced and made in Austria.

  • OPAP gaming company acquired a 51% stake in Stoiximan

    OPAP gaming company acquired a 51% stake in Stoiximan

    OPAP acquired a 51% stake in the Stoiximan group for a net price of 90.2 million euros, plus €3 million in corresponding net cash flow.

    After this, OPAP’s total stake in the Stoiximan group (SMGC), active in Greece and Cyprus, is at 69%, in addition to the holding of 36.75% in the activity of the Stoiximan group outside Greece and Cyprus, Betano.

    OPAP is the leading gaming company in Greece.

    The company, founded in 1958 as the country’s national lottery and listed in the Athens Exchange in 2001, is the exclusive licensed operator of all numerical lotteries (7 games), sports betting (4 games) and horse racing.

    It also operates exclusively, as a controlling shareholder (67%) through a joint venture, the passive lotteries and instant (scratch) games in Greece.

  • Polish Infermedica raises $10.25M in Series A funding

    Polish Infermedica raises $10.25M in Series A funding

    With the participation of existing investors – Karma Ventures, Inovo Venture Partners and DreamIT Ventures, as well as two new co-lead investors, EBRD and heal capital, Infermedica raised $10.25M Series A.

    Infermedica is a team of over 100 people – medical doctors, software engineers, and data scientists – who are passionate about the potential of artificial intelligence in preliminary medical diagnosis.

    Their solutions have been used over 6 million times in 17 language versions.

    This additional funding will enable Infermedica to continue developing the technology and expand commercial operations, especially in the US and Germany.