Amsterdam, Netherlands – 01 February 2021 – Vitruvian Partners, the international growth capital and buyout firm, has reached an agreement with Apax Partners sas, the European private equity firm based in Paris, to acquire a majority shareholding in Expereo, the world’s leading provider of Managed Internet, Cloud access and SD-WAN solutions. Apax Partners will remain as a minority shareholder alongside Vitruvian Partners and the company’s management team, who will continue to lead the business. The completion of the transaction is subject to obtaining customary merger control clearances.
Expereo has a strong track record of growth, financial performance and value-enhancing acquisitions, solidifying its position as a market leader in providing managed Global Internet and network connectivity solutions to its communication service provider partners and an impressive array of multinational corporate customers spanning the globe.
“Vitruvian Partners will further bolster our ambitious growth trajectory, enabling us to capitalize even faster on the fundamental changes and opportunities digital transformation brings in the global network and cloud connectivity space”,” says Irwin Fouwels, CEO of Expereo. “Vitruvian and the continued support of Apax Partners, will enable us to further build out our leadership position at scale whilst broadening our services suite, enabling our global enterprise customers’ network transformation and cloud-first strategies with enhanced internet and cloud access services with a single, best-in-class, digital customer experience”.
David Nahama, Senior Partner at Vitruvian Partners, adds:
“We have been tracking Expereo since 2016 and have seen the company consistently outperform, and more recently make multiple significant strategic acquisitions. Expereo has established a global leadership position in the highly attractive global cloud and software-defined networking market, allowing it to deliver compelling and differentiated solutions to its customers, underpinning its attractiveness from an investment perspective. We approached Irwin and Thomas late last year and are delighted to be partnering with the Expereo team and Apax on the next significant chapter of Expereo’s expansion and success.” Joe O’Mara, Partner at Vitruvian Partners, concluded: ” Together with Apax, we believe we have significant capital and operational capabilities to support Expereo’s growth and acquisition aspirations.”
Thomas de Villeneuve, Partner at Apax Partners, says: “The rapid adoption of cloud-based applications and SD-WAN technologies puts Internet-based WAN solutions at the center of multinational companies’ business models. Expereo has delivered impressive growth since we invested in the business and truly capitalized on these technology trends. We are extremely pleased to continue on this success journey together with Vitruvian, Irwin and his team.”
About Vitruvian
Vitruvian is an international growth capital and buyout firm headquartered in London with offices across London, Stockholm, Munich, Luxembourg, San Francisco, and Shanghai. Vitruvian focuses on dynamic situations characterized by rapid growth and change across industries spanning information technology, financial services, life sciences & healthcare, media, and business and consumer services. Vitruvian Funds have backed over 50 companies and have assets under management of approximately €10 billion. Notable investments to date include global market leaders and innovators in their field such as Voxbone, Bitdefender, Farfetch, Just Eat, Trustpilot, Easypark, Unifaun, Marqeta Global–e and CRF Health, Vitruvian is a signatory of the UN supported Principles of Responsible Investment (“PRI”).
About Expereo
Expereo is the leading provider of managed network solutions, including Global internet connectivity, SD-WAN, and Cloud Acceleration services. Expereo is the trusted partner of 30% of Fortune 500 companies and powers enterprise and government sites worldwide, helping to enhance every business’ productivity with flexible and optimal Internet performance.
About Apax Partners
Expereo was acquired by Apax Partners in 2018.
Apax Partners is a leading European private equity firm based in Paris. With over 45 years of experience, Apax Partners provides long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. Funds managed and advised by Apax Partners exceed €4 billion. These funds invest in fast-growing middle-market companies across four sectors of specialisation: Tech & Telecom, Consumer, Healthcare and Services.
Paris-headquartered Apax Partners sas (www.apax.fr) and London-headquartered Apax Partners LLP (www.apax.com) have a shared history but are separate, independent private equity firms.
@ApaxPartners_Fr
Advisors
Vitruvian was advised by Freshfields, Bruckhaus Deringer (legal), Nielen Schuman (corporate finance & debt advisory), Bain & Company (commercial due diligence), FTI Consulting (financial due diligence) and PwC (tax). Apax was advised by Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
© Expereo 2021
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