Enterprise Investors acquires stake in Czech IT firm Grisoft
Warsaw, September 12, 2005 — Polish Enterprise Fund V (PEF V), a private equity fund managed by Enterprise Investors (EI), has announced a $36 million investment in Grisoft, the leading Czech provider of anti-virus software. Under the terms of the deal, PEF V will acquire 45% of Grisoft from the company’s current owner, Benson Oak Capital. Intel Capital will purchase an additional stake in the firm as part of the same transaction. Benson Oak Capital will stay in the company alongside the new investors.
Grisoft was founded in 1991 as a local provider of anti-virus software. In 2001 the Brno-based company began its global expansion, and currently its AVG anti-virus program protects more than 25 million computers worldwide. Grisoft distributes its products globally through resellers and through the internet – the US market alone accounts for almost 40% of sales.
For 2005, the company budgets revenues of $25 million and a very healthy net income margin of around 30%.
“Grisoft is rapidly expanding both its customer base and product range, and has gained a solid reputation in the global anti-virus industry. We want to build on the company’s potential and work with the other shareholders to consolidate and further improve Grisoft’s position as one of the leading providers of computing protection for the SME marketplace,” said EI Vice President
Rafał Bator, who leads this investment.
Jefferies Broadview, a division of Jefferies International Limited, acted as advisor to Grisoft.
Enterprise Investors is the largest and oldest private equity firm in Central and Eastern Europe, managing investment funds since 1990 with capital now exceeding $1.1 billion. To date, the funds managed by EI have invested $955 million
in 100 companies in Poland and other CEE countries and have exited 76 investments at attractive rates of return.
This latest transaction brings EI’s total investment in IT and telecoms to almost $200 million.
Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s venture investment program, invests in hardware, software and services companies in several market segments, including computing, networking, and wireless communications. Intel Capital has invested more than
$4 billion in approximately 1,000 companies in more than 30 countries since 1991.
Benson Oak Capital is the private equity arm of Benson Oak, an investment banking firm with primary activities in the Czech and Slovak Republics. The firm has advised on more than 75 transactions with a total value exceeding €6 billion. Benson Oak Capital acquired 100% of Grisoft in 2004.