Netherlands-based Main Capital Partners, a private equity firm that acquired Swedish software developer Blika in October, 2021, has made its first add-on acquisition with the takeover of Audimex. The financial details for the transaction have not been disclosed.
The Dutch investment firm aims to build an international software group specialising in solutions for governance, risk and compliance (GRC) processes. Main says it will support the Group in strengthening its position in Europe through a combination of organic growth, focused initially on partnerships, as well as a selective buy-and-build strategy.
Why the acquisition?
The acquisition of Audimex marks the first strategic step in strengthening Blika’s international market footing and further expanding its product suite with GRC functionalities.
Blika represents the first Nordic platform investment from the Main Foundation I fund, which was launched in October, 2021, targeting innovative, high-growth software companies. The company is known for its SaaS platform that focuses on legal, entity and tax management activities. Audimex provides extensive audit and compliance management software.
In partnership, these companies will offer a GRC-suite to both the DACH and Nordic markets. Blika already has a client base comprising European and global multinationals, including Fortune 500 companies. Meanwhile, Audimex services over 200 customers across the globe with a strong focus on the DACH region.
Peter Ohling, CEO at Blika, says, “We are very excited to enter this next phase of growth as we look to develop our company together with support from both Main and Audimex. Our platform is internationally scalable and brings benefits to companies across the DACH region. With the support of Main, we aim to accelerate our growth internationally, starting with the German market. Through the addition of services offered by Audimex to our platform, we can add real value for our existing and future clients.”
Blika’s SaaS system allows companies to monitor complex legal entity structures ensuring proper governance and compliance. Its platform helps enterprises to comply with complex tax, legal and transfer pricing regulations such as DAC6 and IFRIC 23.
Wessel Ploegmakers, Partner and co-Head of Nordic activity at Main, says, “The new market regulations such as country-to-country reporting and DAC6 have caused an increased demand for entity management systems to centralise their data and assist corporations throughout the entire compliance and reporting process. Main, therefore, views this market as a great playing field for Blika to establish truly European market leadership.”
“Software for internal audit and compliance”
Audimex is a supplier and developer of software solutions for internal audit and compliance. It provides all these services from a single source. At its locations in Augsburg and Langen, Audimex services customers of all sizes and across all industries worldwide.
The company’s activities range from the development of software solutions for internal audit and compliance, support of the end-user, and technical support after implementation to the complete hosting of the applications. Currently, Audimex employs 45 FTEs.
Dr Stefan Berchtold, MD at Audimex, says, “We are delighted to partner with Blika and Main. After 20 years of growing the company, this is a big strategic step for Audimex. Having strong partners on our side means we now have the capability to grow and scale much faster, especially in Northern Europe. By partnering with Blika we can support our customers with a much broader portfolio offering.”
“A private equity firm focused on building healthy software groups”
Main Capital Partners is a software investor in Benelux, DACH and the Nordics. The firm has about 20 years of experience in strengthening software companies and works closely together with the management teams of its portfolio companies as a strategic partner to realise sustainable growth and build ‘excellent’ software groups.
The Dutch company employs over 45 employees and has offices in The Hague, Stockholm and Düsseldorf. As of October, 2021, Main has over €2.2B in assets under management. The firm claims to have invested in more than 130 software companies to date and these companies have created jobs for approximately 4,000 employees.
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