Sept 2014
Equiteq is pleased to announce the sale of its client, Global Intelligence Alliance Group Oy (GIA), to M-Brain Oy. The deal was completed on 4th September 2014 and provided an exit for funds managed by Nordic private equity firm CapMan who have been an investor in GIA since 2007.
Equiteq is a consulting sector merger and acquisition specialist, providing both growth advisory and M&A transaction services to the global consulting and IT services industry.
GIA is a strategic market intelligence and advisory group, formed in 1995 when a team of market intelligence specialists, management consultants, industry analysts and technology experts came together to build a powerful suite of customized solutions ranging from outsourced market monitoring services and software, to strategic analysis and advisory.
Commenting on the growth and sale process for GIA, Markko Vaarnas, CEO and co-founder of GIA said: “This process started a year ago with a consulting project during which Equiteq helped our management team to identify the value growth levers for our business. Looking back, the decisions we made at that time proved to be highly valuable and we were able to boost our profit growth significantly. This had a major impact on the way we presented the company in discussions with prospective acquirers and ensured we achieved a successful outcome for all shareholders"
“GIA is an exceptionally well-managed business” said Dan Bowtell, the Equiteq lead advisor to GIA. “Since inception, it has been at the forefront of development in strategic Market Intelligence. GIA’s unique, high quality services generated significant interest in the business, particularly from overseas acquirers. However, it was another Finnish company M-Brain which ultimately provided the most compelling deal. The combination of two businesses creates a group with complementary global operations and substantial future growth opportunities.”
Explaining how M-Brain and GIA will offer a one-stop solution, Kim Nyberg, Executive Chairman of M-Brain said “Knowledge management and real-time market intelligence is a critical success factor in an ever-globalising business environment. Together, we can now offer a complete market intelligence solution ranging from consulting, information systems and intelligence best practices to intelligence services, content creation and software.”
Vesa Wallden, CapMan Technology added “The company’s competent management and personnel have done an amazing job in developing GIA into an international provider of world class market intelligence solutions. We are confident that GIA will continue its successful growth together with a larger entity.”
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©Equiteq Ltd 2014