EQT Mid Market sells stake in TransIP
- EQT Mid Market and EQT Mid Market Europe sell stake in domain name, hosting and VPS provider TransIP to its founder
- Both parties strongly believe in the future prospects of TransIP and are in agreement that having one owner with full control serves the interests of TransIP best
On September 19, 2017, EQT Mid Market and EQT Mid Market Europe agreed to sell their stake in domain name, hosting and VPS provider TransIP (or “the Company”) to Cherenkov B.V., a company controlled and fully owned by Mr. Ali Niknam, founder of TransIP.
TransIP is the largest independent domain name, hosting and Virtual Private Server (“VPS”) provider in the Benelux with a focus on tech savvy customers and IT professionals. TransIP is headquartered in Leiden in the Netherlands. The Company has developed and continued its expansion across existing products and markets, and generated a substantial growth and EBITDA increase.
During EQT’s ownership, a high-caliber Board was formed with Jonas Persson, former CTO EMEA at Microsoft acting as Chairman, who was joined, among others, by Denise Koopmans, former CEO LexisNexis. In addition, Oliver Mauss, a former CEO of 1&1, the largest European hosting Group, joined as CEO and Mark Stork, former CFO at Multikabel BV (today part of Ziggo), joined as CFO.
“TransIP is going through a fast transformation, with a particularly strong growth in its core tech-savvy customer segment with its VPS product in the Benelux. TransIP has a unique and entrepreneurial culture and I am confident that they will continue to prosper in the future”, says Jonas Persson, resigning Chairman of TransIP.
“Following discussions on ownership strategy, both EQT and Mr Ali Niknam believe having one owner with sole control is the best structure for TransIP going forward. TransIP is a great company with strong talent and is well positioned to enjoy further future growth,” says Florian Funk, Partner at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to EQT Mid Market and EQT Mid Market Europe.
The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction.
TransIP has appointed a new management team and supervisory board effective immediately.
EQT looks forward to future cooperation with Oliver Mauss and Mark Stork
Oliver Mauss has a long senior leadership experience in the TelCo and hosting space. He is a former senior executive of Vodafone and was CEO of 1&1, the largest European hosting Group. There he, among other things, led a number of M&A transactions consolidating the European market. Mark Stork is a seasoned finance professional and has held multiple executive roles, including being CFO at Multikabel BV (today part of Ziggo) and Ticketscript, where he lead the finance, tax and legal departments. Most recently, Oliver and Mark worked as CEO and CFO respectively for TransIP, a leading domain name, hosting and VPS provider in Benelux, and a former EQT Mid Market investment.
With Oliver Mauss' and Marks Stork's proven track record from the hosting and tech space both globally and in the Benelux, EQT looks forward to a future cooperation with them both in an advisor capacity.
Contacts:
Florian Funk, Partner at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to EQT Mid Market, +49 89 2554 99 504
EQT Press office, +46 8 506 55 334
About EQT
EQT is a leading alternative investments firm with approximately EUR 37 billion in raised capital. EQT has portfolio companies in Europe, Asia and the US with total sales of more than EUR 19 billion and approximately 110,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.
For further information, please visit www.eqtpartners.com
About TransIP
TransIP is the largest independent domain name, hosting and VPS provider in Benelux with a focus on tech savvy customers and IT professionals. The company is headquartered in Leiden in the Netherlands and has approximately 100 employees.
For further information, please visit www.transip.nl