HgCapital Trust (HGT), has announced that it has, alongside other institutional clients of Hg, made an investment in Geomatikk Group, which it describes as a tech-enabled services champion, managing critical ‘check-before-you-dig’ safety assessments to network owners, contractors and consulting engineers within Norway, Sweden and Finland. Hg says that it will support Geomatikk with its extensive experience in scaling tech champions across Europe, and that Hg will become the majority investor, with founders and management remaining as significant investors in the business. The full terms of the transaction are not disclosed, and the deal’s closing is subject to obtaining relevant regulatory approvals, however, HgCapital Trust will invest approximately £7.4 million alongside the Hg Mercury 2 Fund.
Outstanding commitments and liquid resources
The investment in Geomatikk Group will reduce HGT’s outstanding commitments to invest in Hg transactions to approximately £598 million (48% of the 30 September 2020 pro-forma NAV). HGT says that its liquid resources available for future deployment (including all announced transactions and the interim dividend paid in October 2020) are estimated to be £161 million (13% of the 30 September 2020 pro-forma NAV of £1.25 billion, including the increase in equity via tap equity issues over the fourth quarter of 2020). In addition, HGT has access to a £200 million standby facility, which is currently undrawn.
About Geomatikk Group
Founded in 2005, Geomatikk’s core product is a comprehensive mapping of all underground infrastructure in the countries it operates, which Hg says underpins an end-to-end technology platform that manages these pre-dig checks and complementary workflows such as site inspection, damage resolution and network monitoring. Hg says that Geomatikk has become a one-stop source of truth for underground cable management serving network owners and the construction industry across the Nordic region.
Øystein Moan to join Geomatikk as its chairman
Øystein Moan will also join Geomatikk as Chairman of the board. Øystein has extensive experience of building software businesses in the Nordic region, having been CEO, and currently Executive Chair, of Visma, a leading provider of business-critical software to private and public enterprises in the Nordic, Benelux and Baltic regions. Over the last 23 years Øystein has overseen revenue growth from NOK 300 million to over NOK 19 billion today at Visma. Geomatikk has the potential to follow a pattern similar to Visma and become a European champion in Underground Mission-Critical GIS Data and Detection.
Comments from Knut Bratsberg, CEO and Founder of Geomatikk,
“Hg has a long history of significantly scaling technology businesses in the Nordics. We believe that their extensive experience in software and technology transformation will enable us to provide an even more seamless and compelling product for our customers, whilst also the opportunity to bring our vital services to other regions in Northern Europe. This is an incredibly exciting opportunity and I would like to say thank you to our excellent team who have performed incredibly well in what has been a significant and challenging year for everyone. We look forward to what the future holds.”
Comments from David Issott, Partner at Hg
“We are hugely impressed in what Knut and the Geomatikk team have built in the Nordics. Geomatikk provides a high value service protecting critical infrastructure in the region. By building a high-quality and increasingly tech-enabled product, Geomatikk is a leading European champion in this geographic information sector. We look forward to working with Knut and the entire Geomatikk team as we use our experience of scaling technology enabled businesses to support further growth.”