Throughout 2018 we saw how several venture capital companies specialising in IT were being sold and, moreover, for significant amounts. We did not want to be left behind and we have investigated these operations, exposing in this post the 5 most relevant sales. We are talking about divestments totalling more than 2.5 billion euros.

Sale of venture capital companies

In the following, we analyse from our field of corporate finance the last 5 company sales IT venture capital (Source: Capital&Corporate):

1. Ufinet

In one of the sales processes most competitive of the year, Cinven sold the Spanish fibre operator Ufinet Telecom HoldingGas Natural's former telecommunications business. This was its first divestment in Spain since the British private equity firm opened an office in 2015.

The transaction was signed on 11 May 2018, whereby Cinven charged 2 billion eurosThis amount represents a capital gain of 1.1 billion in only four years. This sale was the largest venture capital operation in Spain in 2018.

Ufinet is a neutral telecommunications operator, providing services to other operators and all types of large customers. Its origins date back to 1998, when the former Unión Fenosa created the company from a small telecommunications department. Since 2014, the company doubled its Ebitda to 140 million euros.

2. iHealth

The French insurer CNP Assurances took control of iHealth in an operation that Spanish start-up valued at 50 million euros.

iSalud, founded in 2010 as the first health insurance comparison portal, has a volume of more than 45 million euros in premiums managed and a team of 110 people.

The operation was carried out by means of a acquisition of shares and a capital increaseThe transaction was the largest transaction in Spain in the insurtech sector. It also implied an implied multiple of more than 10x for Inveready Technology Investment GroupThe venture capital manager that supported the company from its inception using a venture debt instrument.

In addition, it also involved the exit of another investor, Mediaset, which entered the capital in 2015. As reported by C & C, the 90% of the capital was in the hands of the founders and the remaining 10% from Inveready and Mediaset.

3. Adman Media

Founded in 2010 and based in Barcelona, Adman Media has developed the world's largest video delivery platform (SSP) for native Spanish-speaking formats in Europe and Latin America. This solution enables seamless distribution of advertisers' video content through high-quality publishers to achieve a high degree of success with audiences and maximise publishers' revenues.

In April we learned that the Canadian technology company AcuityAds took over 100% from Adman Media for EUR 17.5 million. This amount was divided on the one hand into 12 million disbursed in cash and an earn out of up to 5.5 million subject to the results obtained by the Spanish company in the second quarter of the year.

The operation meant the exit of Inveready from Adman Media's shareholding, which transferred its stake in the company, close to 30%, to the American company.

4. Advance Medical

Advance Medical es uno de los líderes en prestación de servicios de segunda opinión médica a pacientes a través de expertos en las principales especialidades. La española emplea a más de 800 trabajadores en todo el mundo, incluyendo 400 médicos y enfermeras, que colaboran con una red de más de 50.000 expertos en cuidado de la salud. Su facturación ascendió a 48 millones de euros en 2016 (último ejercicio con datos registrados), con un beneficio de 1,41 millones.

En julio Summit Partners salió del accionariado de Advance Medical tras vender su porcentaje minoritario en la firma a la estadounidense Teladoc. El importe de la operación ascendió a 301 millones de euros, de los que 250 fueron abonados en efectivo y 51 en acciones de Teladoc.

La desinversión de Summit Partners se produjo tan solo dos meses después de su entrada en la catalana. En abril, el fondo estadounidense tomó una participación minoritaria en Advance Medical, con la intención de apoyar su siguiente fase de crecimiento por unos 40 millones de euros.

5. AlienVault

Creada en 2007 y con sede central en San Mateo (California), AlienVault is a desarrollador de soluciones comerciales y de código abierto para administrar ataques cibernéticos. Uno de sus productos más conocido es Open Threat Exchange (OTX), una plataforma comunitaria gratuita de respuesta a amenazas de seguridad. La firma cerró 2017 muy positivamente y mantiene un crecimiento interanual de los ingresos de más del 50%.

En septiembre fuimos informados sobre que Adara Ventures Partners había desinvertido con éxito de AlienVault, que había sido adquirida por la estadounidense AT&T por un importe que superó los 500 millones de euros.

Según C&C, Adara valoró la operación como “una de las operaciones más significativas del venture capital ancladas en el ecosistema de innovación español y de gran huella internacional”.