Sep 9, 2021
Hg’s Visma Is Said to Draw New Investors at $19 Billion Value
, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- Visma AS has secured investment from backers including Norway’s government pension fund and billionaire John Fredriksen’s Aeternum Capital, valuing the software group at 16 billion euros ($18.9 billion), according to people familiar with the matter.
Singaporean wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd. and Norwegian technology investor Vind are also buying stakes in the Oslo-based company, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. Details of the new investments could be announced in the coming days, the people said.
European buyout firm Hg will remain Visma’s biggest shareholder and will not be reducing its holding, the people said. Representatives for Hg and Visma declined to comment, while spokespeople for Aeternum, GIC, Norway’s government pension fund and Vind couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
The expansion of Visma’s investor base comes as private equity firms continue to pour vast sums of money into the technology sector. They’ve invested $54 billion in European technology and communications companies so far this year, 158% more than at this point in 2020, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Visma is one of the region’s biggest private software firms, having secured funding from Warburg Pincus and TPG last year in a deal that valued it at more than $12 billion. Its business has remained steady during the coronavirus pandemic, with revenue rising 24.5% year-on-year in the second quarter to 520 million euros, according to its website.
The group offers cloud software that small businesses can use for enterprise resource planning and accounting, as well as other online products for electronic invoicing, procurement and debt collection.
Hg, one of the biggest backers of private software businesses in Europe, led the original delisting of Visma in 2006 and has since reinvested in the business several times. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and General Atlantic are also among investors to have previously bought stakes in the business.
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