Enterprise makes 12x money on AVG final exit

Ellie Pullen
28 August 2014

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Enterprise Investors has sold its remaining stake in AVG Technologies, a Dutch antivirus software firm that listed in January 2012, through a series of placements on the New York Stock Exchange.

The GP is believed to have generated a 12x return through its final sale of AVG shares, which is the highest exit multiple ever achieved by the firm.

It also represents the most successful exit for the Polish Enterprise Fund V fund, which held its final close in January 2004 on €300m.

The firm is believed to have reaped a total of €300m from its investment in AVG. Its website states it held a 9.9% stake in the company following previous placements through the stock exchange.

Previous funding
Enterprise Investors acquired AVG (then Grisoft) in June 2005 alongside Intel Capital, with the two firms buying a 65% stake in a deal worth around $52m, according to unquote" data. Enterprise Investors took a 45% stake with Intel buying 20%, while the remainder stayed in the hands of private equity house Benson Oak.

In October 2009, TA Associates paid around $200m for a minority stake in the business, resulting in a partial exit for both Intel and Enterprise. The latter held a stake of 34% following the deal and reaped more than 4x its original investment through the partial sale.

AVG then listed on the NYSE in February 2012, resulting in another partial exit for Enterprise Investors and Intel. The business raised $128m, giving it a market cap of around $870m. However, shares decreased a fair amount in price on its first day of trading, reaching a low of $13.45 apiece.

At the time of writing (28 August), AVG has seen its stock drop from $18.4 per share at market close last Friday (22 August) to $17.43 each at market close yesterday (27 August).

Company
Founded in 1991, AVG is headquartered in Amsterdam and has a further 10 offices worldwide. The company is a provider of antivirus and other security software for PCs, Macs, mobiles and tablets.

AVG claims to have more than 187 million active users, which Enterprise says is a 7.5x increase since its investment.

The market cap of the company has also increased by 11.5x to $919m. AVG generated $407m in revenues last year – a 14% increase on the $356m recorded in 2012. It employs more than 1,000 staff.

People
Gary Kovacs is the CEO of AVG.