CapMan Press Release 18 June 2008 4.45 p.m.
CapMan Technology 2007 fund and InnovationsKapital invest in Nordic IT-consultancy group Crayon. The Crayon group is represented in four Nordic countries and is owned by Norwegian parent company Artix AS. Crayon provides software asset management services, software licenses, consulting services and training for Microsoft, Citrix, Adobe and Oracle software.
CapMan Technology 2007 fund and InnovationsKapital invest in Nordic IT-consultancy group Crayon. The Crayon group is represented in four Nordic countries and is owned by Norwegian parent company Artix AS. Crayon provides software asset management services, software licenses, consulting services and training for Microsoft, Citrix, Adobe and Oracle software.
Crayon advises its clients in software procurement processes and simplifies the clients’ software license administration. In addition Crayon offers consulting and training around the purchased software to its clients, which include a number of large Nordic customers within both private and public sectors.
The company was founded in 2002 and it has headquarters in Oslo and offices in Trondheim, Stockholm, Umeå, Copenhagen and Helsinki. Crayon’s net sales totalled some MEUR 48 in 2007 and the company employs some 190 people.
“The company has a truly unique offering in software asset management, combining the work normally done by a value added reseller with skilled management consulting, which has resulted in a strong growth in sales and very satisfied customers”, says CapMan’s Investment Director Julia Reuszner.
“Crayon has a very strong market position both in Norway and Sweden and we believe there is potential to develop this further and address new geographies and a wider customer base”, says InnovationsKapital’s Investment Director Martin Falkevall.
“For us the investment made by CapMan and InnovationsKapital is a great acknowledgement of what Crayon has achieved over the last years .We believe that the investment can help us to the next level in our growth ambition”, says Crayon’s Chairman of the Board Jens Rugseth.
CapMan Technology 2007 fund and Innovations Kapital will own 20% of Crayon’s parent company Artix’s shares with equal holdings after the transaction has been completed. The current owners, including management and employees, will hold the reminder of the shares. The closing of the transaction is subject to certain conditions agreed with the parties in the transaction to be met. CapMan Plc is a substantial investor in CapMan Technology 2007 fund.
For more information, please contact:
Julia Reuszner, Investment Director, CapMan Technology, tel. +46 8 545 854 70 or +46 739 865 664
Martin Falkevall, Investment Director, InnovationsKapital, tel. +46 8 54 50 14 90 or +46 708 47 73 16
Jens Rugseth, Chairman of the Board, Crayon, tel. +47 22 89 10 00 or +47 91 16 94 40
CapMan www.capman.com
CapMan is one of the leading alternative asset managers in the Nordic countries and manages Nordic funds with approximately EUR 3.1 billion in total capital. CapMan has five investment areas (CapMan Buyout, CapMan Technology, CapMan Life Science, CapMan Russia and CapMan Real Estate), and each of them has a dedicated team and funds. Altogether CapMan employs 130 people in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo and Moscow. CapMan was established in 1989 and its B shares are listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange since 2001.
CapMan is one of the leading alternative asset managers in the Nordic countries and manages Nordic funds with approximately EUR 3.1 billion in total capital. CapMan has five investment areas (CapMan Buyout, CapMan Technology, CapMan Life Science, CapMan Russia and CapMan Real Estate), and each of them has a dedicated team and funds. Altogether CapMan employs 130 people in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo and Moscow. CapMan was established in 1989 and its B shares are listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange since 2001.
InnovationsKapital www.innkap.se
InnovationsKapital is a leading independent venture capital firm in the Nordic region with capital commitments of EUR 317 million in four funds. Years of experience and a strong network within academia and industry enable us to invest in successful early stage and growth companies. We support talented entrepreneurs to help them create successful high growth businesses. Since 1994, we have made over 58 investments and a number of successful exits in the life sciences and technology sectors.
Crayon www.crayon.no
Crayon is a successful provider of software asset management and licenses, consulting services and training courses. Established in 2002, Crayon has operations in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark and employs 190 people.
