EQT VI to Sell Bureau van Dijk to Moody's Corporation

STOCKHOLM, May 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

• EQT VI to sell Bureau van Dijk, a leading global provider of business intelligence and company information, to Moody's Corporation for EUR 3.0 billion

• During EQT VI's ownership, Bureau van Dijk has gone through a significant transformation with investments in areas including sales, marketing, and product development

• Strong cultural fit, and solid strategic and industrial logic for combination

EQT VI Limited ("EQT VI") has entered into an agreement to sell Bureau van Dijk (or the "Company") to Moody's Corporation ("Moody's") for an enterprise value of EUR 3.0 billion. Bureau van Dijk, operating from its Amsterdam headquarters, captures, treats, standardizes, and distributes the world's richest private company dataset, with coverage of more than 220 million companies. Over some 30 years, the Company has built partnerships with over 160 independent information providers, creating a platform that connects customers with data, to address a wide range of business challenges.

EQT VI acquired Bureau van Dijk in September 2014 with a mission to further expand its leading market position and accelerate growth. The Company has undergone a significant transformation under EQT VI''s ownership through several key initiatives:

- Development of the organisational structure to prepare for further growth

- Investments in the sales organization, including the introduction of a matrix sales structure, implementation of a global CRM system, and expansion of the salesforce

- Strong focus on the development of new products and continued improvement of existing ones, e.g. the launch of a new user interface

- Substantial investments in marketing and corporate branding

The growth initiatives during EQT VI's ownership have resulted in strong financial performance, with Bureau van Dijk generating revenues of EUR 258 million and EBITDA of EUR 132 million in 2016.

"Bureau van Dijk has continued to strengthen its market leading position while accelerating financial growth. This development exemplifies EQT's industrial and growth-focused approach, aimed at supporting management teams in making very good companies even better. The journey continues for Bureau van Dijk – this transaction has a compelling strategic rationale and provides great opportunities for the future. The management team has done an impressive job and we look forward to seeing Bureau van Dijk continue to develop as a part of Moody's", says Kristiaan Nieuwenburg, Partner at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to the EQT VI fund.

"Over the past three years we have been on an exciting and transformational journey with the support of EQT and their industrial experts. We are now delighted to join forces with Moody's and continue to develop our business", says Mark Schwerzel, Deputy CEO of Bureau van Dijk.

Moody's Corporation is the parent company of Moody's Analytics, which offers leading-edge software, advisory services and research for credit and economic analysis and financial risk management, and Moody's Investors Service, which provides credit ratings and research covering debt instruments and securities.

The agreement is subject to customary anti-trust clearance and the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2017.

The sellers were represented by Quayle Munro and J.P. Morgan.

About EQT

EQT is a leading alternative investments firm with approximately EUR 35 billion in raised capital across 22 funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia and the US with total sales of more than EUR 19 billion and approximately 110,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More information: www.eqtpartners.com 

About Bureau van Dijk

Bureau van Dijk captures and treats private company information for better decision making and increased efficiency. Its products combine data from regulatory and other sources, including over 160 information providers, to deliver the richest, most reliable private company information, corporate structures, beneficial ownership and deal information in the market. Bureau van Dijk's Orbis database provides information on 220 million private companies in all countries worldwide. Orbis also incorporates powerful software and contemporary data visualisation tools to help users interrogate and manipulate the information for a range of research needs.

More information: www.bvdinfo.com

CONTACT:

Kristiaan Nieuwenburg, Partner at EQT Partners, Investment Advisor to EQT VI, +31-20-262-40-01

EQT Press Office, +46-8-506-55-334, press@eqtpartners.com

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SOURCE EQT AB