Renta Group Oy (“Renta Group” or “Renta”) acquires Caro Design Sp. z o.o. (“Caro Design” or “the Company”). Caro Design is a Polish site modules rental specialist serving construction and industrial customers in the south-eastern part of Poland. On a project basis the Company also does work outside Poland. The Company is headquartered in Brzezówka, has 8 employees across three depots and annual revenues of approximately PLN 12 million.

With the acquisition, Renta adds site modules to its product offering in Poland, which is a strategic step towards building a full-service offering in Poland. Caro Design is a growing company with strong profitability and a modern fleet comprising of c. 2,000 site modules. Renta’s objective, together with the management of Caro Design, is to continue to scale the operations geographically and to capture cross-selling synergies between the Company and Renta.

The acquisition was completed on 31 August 2024.

Kari Aulasmaa, CEO of Renta Group, said: 

“Through the acquisition, Renta takes another step forward in building a full range product offering in Poland. Caro Design is an excellent platform for Renta to launch the site modules operations in Poland given its sizeable and modern fleet and talented team of professionals. We would like to extend a warm welcome to the Caro Design team and look forward to working with them.”

Kazimierz Mikrut, President of the Management Board of Caro Design, said: 

“We are incredibly happy to partner with Renta, a company sharing our ambition for continued development of the business. With the support of Renta, a rental company with a nationwide presence and advanced digital solutions, Caro Design will have good prospects for continued growth and expansion of the business. We look forward to the future collaboration.”

Enquiries: ir@renta.com

Kristian Bentzer has decided to leave his role as CEO and Christine Ehnström, Head of Business Area Risk, Compliance and Finance, has been appointed new CEO as of November 1, 2024.

During the past year, Advisense has continued its growth journey towards becoming a leading European Governance, Risk and Compliance firm. Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, Advisense has demonstrated remarkable resilience and delivered excellent results.

“We are very pleased to appoint Christine Ehnström as new CEO. She has more than 25 years’ experience in the financial sector, in leading roles as COO, Head of Legal and interim CEO and with her 6 years at Advisense as Head of Business Area Risk, Compliance and Finance, member of the Group Executive Committee and the group board of directors, she has an in-depth understanding of our business. Through her appointment, we will ensure a smooth transition and continuous focus on achieving Advisense’s goals,” says Bo Magnusson, Chairman of the board.

“I am honoured and excited for this opportunity to lead Advisense with its great business and exceptional people. It has been a privilege to work alongside Kristian during the past years. I very much look forward to continuing the successful growth journey Advisense has had under Kristian’s leadership, together with our talented and passionate employees. With the strong position we have as GRC firm, in a market where our expertise will continue to be in high demand, we have great opportunities ahead,” says Christine Ehnström.

Kristian Bentzer joined Advisense in 2011 and has been CEO for eight years. Under his leadership, the company has grown from 80 to 450 employees while maintaining a strong profitability. Advisense is currently operating in 8 countries, and over the past year, the company has continued to grow its revenue significantly faster than the market, maintaining a profitability of around 20%.

“We’ve achieved excellent profits over the last twelve months, and our employee satisfaction is high. The company is in a strong position, and we have tremendous opportunities ahead. It has been an incredibly rewarding journey, and now I feel I am ready for a change. I’m very pleased that the board has appointed Christine to take over the role as CEO,” says Kristian Bentzer.

“Kristian has done an outstanding job. We are very pleased with the extraordinary results he has achieved and are now looking forward to continue working with him in his new capacity as a member of Advisense’s board of directors,” says Bo Magnusson.

Christine Ehnström will take over as CEO on November 1, when Kristian Bentzer will take up his new position as board member of Advisense.

For media enquiries and further information, please contact:

Kristian Bentzer, Group CEO
+46 766 35 05 07
kristian.bentzer@advisense.com

Maria Sandström Anderson, Chief Marketing Officer
+46 73 385 06 43
maria.sandstrom@advisense.com

Christine Ehnström, Head of Business Area Risk, Compliance and Finance
+46 70 343 29 61
christine.ehnstrom@advisense.com

IK Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that the IK Small Cap II Fund (“IK SC II”) has completed the sale of Carspect Group (“Carspect” or “the Company”) to TÜV SÜD. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Headquartered in Bromma, Sweden, Carspect Group is a leading provider of vehicle inspection services in Sweden, Estonia and Latvia. It carries out a range of vehicle services, including control, follow-up and registration inspections. Its first Swedish station opened in Tyresö in 2010 and today, the Company has 118 stations and more than 300 employees in Sweden. Across Estonia and Latvia, Carspect has 34 stations and more than 150 employees.

Since acquiring Carspect in 2018, IK has collaborated closely with the Company’s management team to foster business growth through several strategic initiatives. These include greenfield expansion in Sweden, with the opening of 42 new inspection stations, as well as enhancements to the marketing and pricing models across all markets. Additionally, IK has supported the expansion of the Estonian and Latvian businesses through both add-on acquisitions and organic growth.

Markus Falk, CEO of Carspect Group, added: “We would like to thank the team at IK Partners for their unwavering support since 2018. With their market knowledge and expertise, we have driven significant growth in our primary markets and identified exciting opportunities for inorganic growth. We are looking forward to working with TÜV SÜD as we target continued growth.”

Kristian Carlsson Kemppinen, Managing Partner at IK Partners and Advisor to the IK Small Cap II Fund, said: “We are proud of what we have been able to achieve with the excellent management team at Carspect during our years of ownership of the business. We wish them luck in the next stage of their development.”

Patrick Fruth, CEO Division Mobility at TÜV SÜD, said: “The acquisition of Carspect is a further step in our internationalisation strategy. It gives us access to three key markets with high growth potential. In addition, Carspect’s dynamic, entrepreneurial concept with test centres convenient for its customers and an innovative process for digital customer journeys, is an excellent fit for our own approach at TÜV SÜD.”

For further questions, please contact:

IK Partners
Vidya Verlkumar
Phone: +44 (0)7787 558 193
vidya.verlkumar@ikpartners.com

IK Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that the IK Small Cap III (“IK SC III”) Fund has signed an agreement to invest in Sansidor (“the Group”), a fast-growing testing, inspection and related services (“TIS”) provider. IK is investing in the Group alongside existing shareholders HC Partners, founders of the respective group companies and the management team. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Sansidor was created in 2018 through the acquisition of several inspection companies by HC Partners. Since then, the Group has grown considerably and today, comprises 18 companies in the Netherlands. With a broad suite of products and services already on offer, Sansidor aims to provide a one-stop shop for small, medium-sized and larger enterprises across the entire built environment industry. To support the achievement of this, it pursues an active buy-and-build strategy which targets high-performing specialist companies with entrepreneurial mindsets that complement its existing offering.

Collectively, the Group has nearly 400 employees who serve over 9,000 clients across a diverse range of sectors. Operating across four key segments: Water Safety; Fire Protection; Electricity; and Building Integrity and two great niches of Infection Prevention and air measurements the Group benefits from a high level of sales recurrence due to insurance, regulatory and legal requirements, with significant customer lock-in and stickiness.

In partnership with IK and the continued support of HC Partners, Sansidor will further develop its in-house M&A capabilities to accelerate the pace of its buy-and-build strategy and drive consolidation in the market. In addition, the Group plans to increase cross-selling and pursue international expansion with an initial focus on Germany. The vision of central embedding, focus on internal corporation between entities as well as local entrepreneurship and culture remains key.

Udo Waltman, CEO of Sansidor, said: “I am extremely proud of the progress we have made over the last few years, particularly with our ‘Buy and Build together’ strategy. Our strong growth ambitions have seen us make several acquisitions of entrepreneurial TIS companies with well-established track records. This has enabled us to continuously evolve our offering and provide customers with access to a dynamic network of professionals from different disciplines. We would like to thank HC Partners for all their support thus far and we look forward to welcoming the team at IK on board for this next phase of our journey. We are extremely grateful to our strong and loyal customer base and every one of our colleagues who contribute to our shared success and help us advance towards our ambitious goals.”

Sander van Vreumingen, Partner at IK and Advisor to the IK SC III Fund, said: “This is another great investment for the IK Small Cap strategy in the Benelux region, with a fast-growing business that has significant potential to develop further. We have been impressed with Sansidor’s journey to date and are convinced of the critical and resilient nature of the services provided through its dedicated group of companies. We look forward to utilising our experience to support Udo, Dave and Frido and their teams in the next phase of the Group’s growth, working collaboratively with HC Partners also.”

Erik de Boer, Partner at HC Partners, said: “We are very proud of Sansidor’s journey over the past six years and are keen to continue our involvement with Sansidor via our second fund. With 18 acquisitions since the start in 2018, Sansidor is a great example of what we like to do: enter into partnerships with entrepreneurs and ambitious management teams and focus on accelerated growth via buy-and-build acquisitions. We are looking forward to entering into this new phase and continuing to support Sansidor’s growth, together with the IK team.”

For further questions, please contact:

IK Partners
Vidya Verlkumar
Phone: +44 7787 558 193
vidya.verlkumar@ikpartners.com

IK Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that the IK Partnership III (“IK PF III”) Fund has reached an agreement to acquire a minority stake in OCTIME Group (“OCTIME” or “the Group”), a leading French software developer of workforce management solutions. IK will acquire its stake from existing shareholders, including Group President Guillaume Berbinau, Andera Partners (“Andera”) and the management team, who will all be reinvesting. Guillaume Berbinau, President of OCTIME Group since 2008, remains the majority shareholder. He relies on Nicolas Michel-Vernet, Managing Director of the Group and his management team who see their position strengthened. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Biron, France, OCTIME Group is a software company which provides a comprehensive range of solutions for time management and human resource planning. The Group supports over 7,000 small to medium-sized enterprises across a diverse range of sectors and countries in the digitalisation of their human resource processes.

OCTIME’s products enable organisations to track and manage workforce performance, including time, attendance, scheduling and task management. With an international presence and approximately 300 employees, the Group has a strong position in France and operates through subsidiaries in Spain, Portugal and Latin America. Since inception, the Company has demonstrated sustained organic growth and resilience, driven by the consistent acquisition of new clients and very low churn.

Alongside Andera and Guillaume, IK will work with OCTIME’s Managing Director Nicolas Michel-Vernet and his management team to continue building its leadership position in the time management space through the acquisition of new clients within relevant sub-sectors. The Group also plans to strengthen its international presence through the pursuit of an active buy-and-build strategy focused on European neighbouring countries.

Guillaume Berbinau, President of OCTIME Group, commented: “I am very proud of the trajectory of the OCTIME Group, which has managed to retain its DNA, expertise and commitment, while achieving exemplary growth. We owe this success to the strength of our team. I am convinced that the team at IK will be committed partners in supporting and accelerating our future growth plans.”

Magdalena Svensson, Partner at IK and Advisor to the IK PF III Fund, said: “Under the leadership of Guillaume, Nicolas and their team, OCTIME has established itself as a leading French software as a service developer in the time management and planning space. We look forward to working with Guillaume, the management team and Andera Partners in the next phase of the Group’s growth.”

David Robin, Partner at Andera, added: “The development driven by the management team in recent years has enabled the OCTIME Group to become a benchmark player in its market, offering best-in-class solutions to a loyal and diversified customer base. We are delighted and proud of the progress we have made alongside Guillaume, Nicolas and the entire management team.”

For further questions, please contact:

IK Partners
Vidya Verlkumar
Phone: +44 7787 558 193
vidya.verlkumar@ikpartners.com

Andera Partners
Nicolas Delsert
Phone: + 33 6 22 67 71 17
n.delsert@anderapartners.com

IK Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that the IK Small Cap III (“IK SC III”) Fund has signed an agreement to invest in Defibrion B.V. (“Defibrion” or “the Company”), a leading Dutch distributor of automated external defibrillators (“AEDs”) and related products. IK is investing from its dedicated pool of Development Capital and acquiring its stake from existing shareholders, including Holland Capital, Co-Founder and current CEO Joshua Valkenier and the management team. Both Joshua and the management team will be reinvesting in the Company alongside IK. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Based in Groningen, Netherlands, Defibrion was founded in 2008. As an expert in the field of AEDs and workplace safety, Defibrion offers a wide range of products and related services, acting as a one-stop shop for emergency response needs to more than 6,400 customers globally. These include over 900 resellers in Europe and North America, with the remainder being end-users such as offices, sports clubs and government institutions.

With the support of IK, the Company aims to scale the existing platform on the back of a growing market and increased product awareness, diversifying the offering to directly serve end-customers in new markets and cross-sell to its existing network. Additionally, the Company plans to identify buy-and-build opportunities to accelerate its expansion and drive consolidation in what is currently a fragmented market. 

Joshua Valkenier, Co-Founder and CEO of Defibrion, said: “This is an important next step for Defibrion as we seek to further strengthen our position as a global player in the AED market and target continued growth in a marketplace that is constantly evolving. With the support of the team at IK, who has proven experience investing in the Healthcare sector across various European jurisdictions, we are confident that we can deliver success and growth for all our customers and other stakeholders.”

Frances Houweling, Partner at IK Partners and Advisor to IK SC III Fund, added: “We are very excited about the prospect of partnering with Joshua and his team. Defibrion has established itself as a market leader for AEDs in Europe. This market is predicted to continue growing across Europe at an impressive rate year-on-year, largely due to increased awareness of the need for these products, given the rising risk of cardiac arrest. It is also a sector in which the broader IK team has considerable experience and we look forward to bringing this into our partnership with the Company.”

For further questions, please contact:

IK Partners
Vidya Verlkumar
Phone: +44 (0) 7787 558 193
vidya.verlkumar@ikpartners.com