Companeo SA, a European online B2B lead generator, will receive an undisclosed majority investment from The Carlyle Group, the global alternative asset manager.
The investment will be made alongside the company’s founders and management team while historical shareholders Alven Capital and SGPA will retain a minority stake.
The company offers an online marketplace used by small and medium size businesses looking to find qualified suppliers meeting their requirements across over 100 product and service categories (incl. IT, marketing services, telecoms, vending, human resources, financial services, automobile, etc.). The platform enables users to submit requests for quotes for goods and services to a large base of qualified suppliers.
Companeo independently selects suppliers based primarily on quality, and offers unbiased expert advice through the internet and phone.
As stated by Vladimir Lasocki, Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, “Companeo holds the dominant position in a high growth market fuelled by powerful underlying trends and strong long term prospects. Since 2000, the company’s founders have taken the company into prime market positions in France, UK, Belgium and the Netherlands.
“Carlyle intends to help the company expand further in Europe, including potentially into Germany and Spain, to consolidate Companeo’s European leadership”.
Laurent Horwitz, Chief Executive and Co-Founder, added that Carlyle would help propel the company forward as they continue to grow, expand geographically and consolidate thier position as a market leader in this area.
Founded in 2000, Companeo is headquartered close to Paris and has more than 140 employees in its Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and London offices.
Equity for this transaction will come from The Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (CETP) II, a €530m fund that closed in November 2008.
FinSMEs
30/07/2010