Montagu buys Wireless Logic Group in SBO

Francesca Veronesi
27 June 2018

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Montagu Private Equity has bought a majority stake in UK-based Wireless Logic Group, a smart connectivity platform provider, from CVC Capital Partners.

Management has retained a minority stake in the business, Unquote understands.

The sale is the first exit for CVC's growth fund, CVC Capital Partners Growth Investors, which closed on $1bn in 2016.

Montagu Private Equity is currently investing via its latest fund, Montagu V, closed on its €2.75bn hard-cap in 2015. The vehicle completes buyouts valued in the €100m-1bn range.

Previous funding
ECI acquired Wireless Logic in August 2011 for £38m. The firm invested via its ninth fund, which closed in December 2008 on £430m.

In 2015, CVC took over from ECI, which generated a return of 6.1x money on the sale. The deal was the first investment made by the CVC Growth fund, which was set up in 2014. The fund makes equity investments of $50-200m in North American and European software and technology-focused business services.

According to Unquote sister publication Debtwire, Ares Management and GE Capital have provided a £75m debt package to support the CVC's acquisition.

Company
Founded in 2000, Wireless Logic provides an Internet-of-Things and machine-to-machine platform across mobile, satellite, low-power wireless, and fixed-line networks. The company's services enable smart connectivity for applications and devices, creating two-way communication across secure private networks.

Wireless Logic claims it has a customer base of 2,500 and 3.1 million subscriptions. Headquartered in Hurley, the company operates across Europe, with country offices in the UK, Denmark, France, Germany and Spain.

People
Wireless Logic Group – Oliver Tucker (co-founder; CEO).
Montagu Private Equity – Ed Shuckburgh (director).
CVC Capital Partners – Aaron Dupuis (senior managing director).

Advisers
Vendor – William Blair (corporate finance); Fried Frank (legal); Deloitte (financial due diligence); OC&C (commercial due diligence).
Equity – Arma Partners (corporate finance); Morgan Stanley (corporate finance); Freshfields (legal).