Carlyle scores 7x return on sale of UK software provider

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in London, the company was formerly known as Testplant and got acquired by Carlyle in 2016. Since then, Eggplant has tripled its revenues, the firm said, to $38m in 2019.

“Carlyle has been a valuable partner for Eggplant’s management team over the past four years, supporting the business to deliver strong growth and innovative customer solutions, as the business has established itself as an industry leader,” said Dr John Bates, Eggplant’s CEO.

Following the transaction, Bates will join the Keysight leadership team reporting to Soon-Chai Gooi, president of company’s Electronic Industrial Solutions Group, Keysight said.

The deal marks the sixth exit from Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (CETP) III fund, which closed in 2015 at €656m. The vehicle is a pan-European strategy focusing on buyout investments in telecoms, media, and technology.

Carlyle closed its latest Europe-focused fund in October 2019. Carlyle Europe Partners V raised €6.4bn from investors, exceeding its target by almost €1bn.

As of 31 March, the firm had $217bn in assets across four business segments: corporate private equity, real assets, global credit, and investment solutions. Carlyle employs more than 1,775 people in 32 offices across six continents, it said in a statement.