DECEMBER 28 2021
A Nordic Capital investment vehicle is exiting its investment in Vizrt Group to a new Nordic Capital-led consortium, comprising a secondary acquisition vehicle and other Nordic Capital investment vehicles. This transaction will allow Nordic Capital, alongside the Vizrt management team, to continue to support the business and its strategy over its next ownership cycle, providing capital to further fuel the strong growth momentum.
The secondary acquisition vehicle, which forms part of the new Nordic Capital-led acquiring consortium, was established with investment vehicles managed or advised by Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Vintage Funds, Pantheon and Coller Capital as co-leads.
Vizrt is a global leader in production software for live video production, serving the world’s best storytellers from tier one sports and news producers through to corporate, education and Pro-AV markets. Building on Vizrt’s leading technology platform, strong customer relationships and reputation for operational excellence, Nordic Capital has entered into a strategic transaction to enable it to further invest through a new consortium led by it in the ongoing development of the business. The aim is to further support Vizrt’s continued transition to a SaaS business model, accelerate new offerings, expanding its operational capabilities and pursuing add-on investments to complement the offering and further accelerate the group’s growth.
Following Nordic Capital’s initial investment in 2015, Vizrt has continued its innovation leadership in graphics and live production software, successfully expanded into new markets and regions and is today a global leading software provider for software defined visual storytelling solutions. During Nordic Capital’s ownership, expansion initiatives and product investments has doubled Vizrt’s revenues and accelerated organic growth leading to tripled profits. Furthermore, a top tier, globally recognised management team has been added, high calibre talent has been attracted throughout the business, and the IP video technology focus has been further enhanced with the acquisitions of NewTek and NDI.
“Vizrt is an exciting company that has consistently performed during Nordic Capital’s ownership. This transaction is an opportunity for Nordic Capital to continue to support Vizrt’s high-caliber management team and to further develop the company which has an exciting future ahead with strong growth potential. Vizrt will continue to benefit from Nordic Capital’s strong capabilities as software investor with an outstanding network and know-how in operational excellence. We are excited for Nordic Capital to have the opportunity to continue the journey together with Vizrt’s team who share the same vision of building a leading video software company which will drive the industry shift to IP and cloud adoption”, said Fredrik Näslund, Partner and Head of Technology & Payments at Nordic Capital Advisors.
“This continued investment validates the growth strategy we have embarked upon with Nordic Capital and is a strong endorsement of the capabilities of our team and the value we deliver for our customers every day. It will help us to better meet the evolving needs of our customers in the future by allowing us to realise our development plans, further deepening our innovative service offering”, said Michael Hallén, CEO of Vizrt.
Technology & Payments is one of Nordic Capital’s focus sector where it is has a long and extensive history and experience of investing and supporting sustainable growth in technology software companies. To date, Nordic Capital has deployed more than EUR 5.4 billion of equity across 23 technology companies since 2001 and has significant experience in software as well as payments.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, with completion of the transaction remaining subject to certain conditions such as satisfactory clearance from relevant anti-trust authorities.
Nordic Capital was advised in the process by, among others, Evercore as financial advisor, Kirkland & Ellis as lead legal counsel and Gernandt & Danielsson as Swedish legal counsel.
Press contacts:
Nordic Capital
Katarina Janerud, Communications Manager,
Nordic Capital Advisors
Tel: +46 8 440 50 50
e-mail: katarina.janerud@nordiccapital.com
Vizrt
Steve Wind-Mozley, Chief Marketing Officer
e-mail: swm@vizrt.com
About Vizrt
Vizrt is a global leader in production software for live video production, with large and diversified product segments serving News & Entertainment, Sports & eSports, Enterprise & Org. and Digital Industries. The group contains three of the strongest names in the media and entertainment technology industry; NewTek, NDI® and Vizrt, all three being creative businesses, built on innovation and grown by the group’s people, with the goal of becoming the most recommended solution provider in the markets they serve. Vizrt combines strategic pillars of Content-Centricity, Software-Defined, IP First, and Innovation to increase its customers’ success in delivering engaging and immersive content to their audiences. Vizrt Group is a global and diverse organisation with over 600 employees from 58 different nationalities, with offices in 16 countries worldwide. For more information, please see www.vizrt.com
About Nordic Capital
Nordic Capital is a leading private equity investor with a resolute commitment to creating stronger, sustainable businesses through operational improvement and transformative growth. Nordic Capital focuses on selected regions and sectors where it has deep experience and a long history. Focus sectors are Healthcare, Technology & Payments, Financial Services, and selectively, Industrial & Business Services. Key regions are Europe and globally for Healthcare and Technology & Payments investments. Since inception in 1989, Nordic Capital has invested more than EUR 19 billion in over 120 investments. The most recent entities are Nordic Capital X with EUR 6.1 billion in committed capital and Nordic Capital Evolution with EUR 1.2 billion in committed capital, principally provided by international institutional investors such as pension funds. Nordic Capital Advisors have local offices in Sweden, the UK, the US, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Norway and South Korea. For further information about Nordic Capital, please visit www.nordiccapital.com
“Nordic Capital” refers to, depending on the context, any, or all, Nordic Capital branded entities, vehicles, structures and associated entities. The general partners and/or delegated portfolio managers of Nordic Capital’s entities and vehicles are advised by several non-discretionary sub-advisory entities, any or all of which are referred to as “Nordic Capital Advisors”