M&A Deal Summary

The Carlyle Group and Ardian Acquire The Innovation Group

On December 4, 2015, private equity firms The Carlyle Group and Ardian acquired information technology company The Innovation Group for 500M GBP

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is The Carlyle Group’s 22nd and Ardian’s 10th transaction in the Information Technology sector.
  • This is The Carlyle Group’s 69th and Ardian’s 40th largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is The Carlyle Group’s 37th and Ardian’s 18th transaction in the United Kingdom.
Investment Fate
  • The Innovation Group was recapitalized in 2019.

M&A Deal Summary

Date 2015-12-04
Target The Innovation Group
Sector Information Technology
Buyer(s) The Carlyle Group
Ardian
Deal Type Going Private
Deal Value 500M GBP

Target

The Innovation Group

Hampshire, United Kingdom
The Innovation Group is a provider of business process outsourcing and technology solutions to the insurance, fleet and automotive industries. The Innovation Group was founded in 1996 and is based in Hampshire, United Kingdom.

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Buyer(S) 2

Buyer

The Carlyle Group

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor


Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1987
PE ASSETS 435.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION
Carlyle's corporate headquarters on Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, DC.
Carlyle's corporate headquarters on Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, DC.

The Carlyle Group is a global investment firm that pursues private equity, credit, and real estate investments worldwide. Carlyle's private equity practice practice pursues buyouts, strategic minority equity investments, equity private placements, consolidations and buildups, and growth capital financings. With offices in 19 countries, Carlyle can easily target opportunities throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East/North Africa and Latin America. Broad sectors of interest include aerospace, defense, automotive and transportation, consumer, retail, energy and power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology services, business services, telecommunications and media. The Carlyle Group was formed in 1987 and is based in Washington DC.


DEAL STATS #
Overall 548 of 750
Sector: Information Technology M&A 22 of 39
Type: Going Private M&A Deals 30 of 37
Country: United Kingdom M&A 37 of 53
Year: 2015 M&A 38 of 41
Size (of disclosed) 69 of 137
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2015-12-02 RAC

Walsall, United Kingdom

RAC is an motoring organization offers roadside assistance to around 8.6 million members if their vehicles suffer a mechanical failure, fixing 80% of issues at the roadside. If the issue can’t be resolved then members will be offered a tow to a destination of the member’s choice. RAC is also an insurance broker, offering car, home, motorcycle and van and other specialist insurance using a panel of third-party underwriters to roadside members and non-members. RAC was founded in 1897 and is based in Walsall, United Kingdom.

Sell -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2015-12-07 Array Marketing

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Array Marketing is a provider of in-store marketing services for the retailers and brand manufacturers. Array Canada is based in Toronto, Ontario.

Buy -
Buyer

Ardian

Paris, France

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor


Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1996
PE ASSETS 127.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Ardian is a mega-sized diversified investment group focused on opportunities worldwide. Ardian invests across and manages funds focused on small and mid-sized buyouts, growth capital financings, mezzanine, infrastructure, real estate, and co-investment opportunities. Ardian's small-buyouts group targets controlling interests in French, German, and Italian businesses valued up to €100 million. It's mid-sized buyout group seeks businesses valued up €1.5 billion and does not have any geographic limitations. The Infrastructure team looks for European opportunities and can commit up to €1 billion per transaction. The Mezzanine group supports junior capital commitments of €5 to €80 million. In addition to direct investing, Ardian also manages various private equity fund-of-funds. Ardian was founded in 1996 and is based in Paris.


DEAL STATS #
Overall 251 of 465
Sector: Information Technology M&A 10 of 30
Type: Going Private M&A Deals 9 of 16
Country: United Kingdom M&A 18 of 27
Year: 2015 M&A 24 of 27
Size (of disclosed) 40 of 68
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2015-12-02 RAC

Walsall, United Kingdom

RAC is an motoring organization offers roadside assistance to around 8.6 million members if their vehicles suffer a mechanical failure, fixing 80% of issues at the roadside. If the issue can’t be resolved then members will be offered a tow to a destination of the member’s choice. RAC is also an insurance broker, offering car, home, motorcycle and van and other specialist insurance using a panel of third-party underwriters to roadside members and non-members. RAC was founded in 1897 and is based in Walsall, United Kingdom.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2015-12-15 PC SOFT

Montpellier, France

PC SOFT is a software company specializing in the design of professional development tools: PC, Mobile, Internet, Cloud, etc. and under all operating systems: Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, etc. PC SOFT was founded in 1984 and is based in Montpellier, France.

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