Tech investor Silver Lake joins KKR at software company Exact

Tech investor Silver Lake has joined KKR as a shareholder of Exact, with the two American private equity groups seeking to team up to accelerate Exact’s growth.

The Netherlands-based provider of software solutions and services has been owned by KKR since March 2019, when the private equity giant acquired a majority share from counterpart Apax. Together with Exact’s management team, a steep growth trajectory was stipulated – lifting group revenues to €500 million by 2025. Today, Exact generates to the tune of €300 million.

How much funds Silver Lake is pumping into Exact has not been disclosed, however, known is that the transaction is a minority share deal, with KKR retaining its majority ownership.

Silver Lake is one of the world’s largest private equity firms focused on the technology and software industry. The investor has over $83 billion in investment capital under its belt and has over the years taken notable stakes in companies like Airbnb, Expedia Group and Klarna.

Christian Lucas, Co-Head of Silver Lake EMEA, said: “Exact fits very naturally into our strategy of investing in high growth, innovative and world leading technology companies. We are excited to partner with the management team and KKR to contribute to the next stage of Exact’s development.”

“We look forward to leveraging Silver Lake’s software domain expertise and extensive industry network,” added Paul Ramakers, the CEO of Exact.

Daniel Knottenbelt, Partner and Head of Benelux at KKR commented: “We are delighted to welcome Silver Lake as an investor alongside us in Exact, one of the leading European SaaS businesses.”

Exact was founded in 1984 in the Dutch town of Delft and currently has around 1,800 employees. The company’s portfolio includes accounting and financial software for accountants and businesses, and ERP-like solutions for customer relationship management and project-based businesses such as consultancies.

Source: Consultancy EU