Thoma Bravo, L.P. completed the acquisition of remaining 90.9% stake in EQS Group AG.
February 01, 2024
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Thoma Bravo, L.P., Achim Weick, CEO of EQS Group signed an investment agreement and launched public offer to acquire remaining 90.9% stake in EQS Group AG (XTRA:EQS) for ?360 million on November 16, 2023. The cash offer Price is ?40 per share. Bidder group already holds 908,313 shares at time of offer. Offer was made for 9,115,899 shares. Management and supervisory board of EQS Group fully supported the offer and recommended all shareholders to accept the offer. Thoma Bravo has already secured a stake of approximately 60% of total EQS share capital through irrevocable undertakings with key shareholders. EQS Group will delist after completion of offer. Thoma Bravo has underwritten the transaction entirely with equity provided by its funds. Thoma Bravo also agreed to subscribe 10% capital increase by EQS at offer price. Thoma Bravo?s investment will provide EQS with additional funding for future growth initiatives and capital for potential add-on acquisitions. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances. The transaction is expected to be completed in January or February 2024. As of January 17, 2024, Thoma Bravo has secured a 98% stake in EQS Group. The acceptance period for the offer ended on January 12, 2024, and all offer conditions have been fulfilled. The offer is expected to close on February 2, 2024.
Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE acted as financial advisor, fairness opinion provider and GLNS Rechtsanwalte Steuerberater Partnerschaft mbB acted as legal advisor to EQS Group AG. Benjamin Leyendecker and Michael Ehretof Kirkland & Ellis, Germany, Vincent Bergin, Matthew Sinclair-Thomson, Amy Fox, Kirsteen Nicol, Anthony Antioch of Kirkland & Ellis International LLP and Katie A. St. Peters of Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal advisors and ParkView Partners GmbH acted as financial advisor to Thoma Bravo.
Thoma Bravo, L.P. completed the acquisition of remaining 90.9% stake in EQS Group AG on February 2, 2024. Following closing of offer, Thoma Bravo holds 98% stake in EQS Group which includes all tendered shares, shares acquired on the market, shares subject to the partial re-investment of Achim Weick. The delisting is expected to become effective in Q2 2024. Golub Capital acted as Sole Lender on a senior credit facility to support Thoma Bravo?s take private acquisition of EQS Group AG. Proceeds of the transaction will be used to fund future growth initiatives and provide capital for potential add-on acquisitions.
EQS Group AG, formerly known as EquityStory AG, is a Germany-based provider of regulatory technology (RegTech) in the fields of corporate compliance and investor relations. The Companyâs activities are divided into two operating segments: Compliance and Investor Relations. The Compliance segment comprises all products required for companies to fulfill their legal and regulatory obligations, including reporting obligations in the news segment (disclosure), submissions to the Federal Gazette (filing), and new products, such as Insider Manager, Integrity Line, LEI, and ARIVA Workflows. The and Investor Relations segment encompasses products for the areas of financial and corporate communications, including news, websites portals, webcasts and media. In addition, its products are pooled in the cloud-based software EQS COCKPIT. The Companyâs clients are small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), as well as corporate customers. It provides services worldwide.
EQS GROUP AG 
