Direct investments

Visma

11 May 2020
Digital image showing paper- and computer-storage based filing

£15m

Direct investment

Increasing our exposure to Visma, a leading provider of business-critical software in the Nordic and Benelux region.

Key Stats

  • Region: Nordics and the Netherlands
  • Date invested: 2014 & 2017
  • Sector: Technology, media and telecom (TMT)
  • Underlying managers: ICG & Cinven
Norwegian business management software developer simplifying and automating complex and manual work processes.

Visma is a leading provider of mission-critical accounting, resource planning and payroll software to small and medium-sized businesses, as well as the public sector. With a customer base of more than 600,000 enterprises, Visma has significant revenues in the Nordic regions and the Netherlands.

In September 2017, a consortium led by HgCapital, and which included ICG, acquired control of Visma from KKR and Cinven, in a transaction that valued the business at £4.2 billion. ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) co-invested directly as well as through its commitment to ICG Europe VI. Additionally, ICGT retained 60% of its original 2014 investment in the business, which was made both directly and through Cinven V. In 2019, our investment in Visma was partially realised, with our co-investment managed by Cinven realised, generating a 2.5x return. We still retain an interest in Visma via our ICG fund holding and co-investment. 

ICG has a long history of investing in Visma, initially investing in the public to private de-listing of the business in 2006 alongside HgCapital. The business’s performance over the 11 years since has been consistently strong, with revenues, profit, employee numbers and research and development investment growing every year, including through the financial crisis. Visma has also completed more than 120 acquisitions over the same period.

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