Nordian Capital Partners sells Open Line to Capital A

Alessia Argentieri
10 March 2020

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Private equity firm Nordian Capital Partners has sold its majority stake in Dutch ICT and cloud specialist Open Line to Capital A Investment Partners.

Capital A acquired a stake of 60-70%, while the company's mangement team retained the reminder.

The GP invested via its eighth fund, which closed on €270m in 2019 and is currently around 35-40% deployed.

The vehicle invests in companies with enterprise values in the €15-75m bracket, based across the Netherlands and Belgium, and with high-growth potential. It deploys equity tickets of €5-35m and pursues an intense buy-and-build strategy with the aim of scaling up its portfolio companies and building leading platforms across a variety of sectors.

The team of Capital A was originally responsible for mid-market private equity deals within ABN Amro. It spun out from ABN Amro in 2018 and rebranded as Capital A. ABN Amro remains an important investor in all Capital A current funds, alongside AlpInvest, LGT, Five Arrows and Bregal.

In addition to fund eight, the GP is currently managing the portfolios of its funds five, six and seven, which are all fully invested.

Nordian acquired a majority stake in Open Line in January 2016 via its €300m second fund. The GP is currently investing via its third fund, which held a final close on its €320m hard-cap in June 2019.

Under Nordian's ownership, Open Line consolidated and expanded its market position in the Netherlands, strengthened its presence in the healthcare industry and increased its turnover by around 25% per year.

Company
Established in 2003, Open Line specialises in designing, implementing and managing ICT infrastructures and cloud solutions.

The company is headquartered in Limburg and Maastricht Airport, with additional offices based in Landgraaf, Eindhoven, Capelle aan den IJssel and Amsterdam. It operates two tier-3 data centres with dual power and distribution capabilities, and employs 230 staff. Open Line expects to generate revenues of around €40m in 2020.

People
Nordian Capital Partners – Tijs Akkerman (partner).
Capital A Investment Partners – Arne Hamers (partner).
Open Line – Jo Verstappen (CEO); Michiel van Lamoen (chief financial officer).