Silverfleet sells Phase One to Axcel for 4.6x

The sale ends a holding period of more than five years for Silverfleet, which acquired the business with its first fund.

The GP has supported the transition of the company from a hardware-driven business model to a software-driven one. The software unit's sales increased 38% between 2014-2018, according to a statement.

Axcel is currently investing from its fifth fund, a DKK 4.8bn vehicle that closed in April last year.

Previous funding
Phase One received a €6m investment in November 2001 from a syndicate of investors led by 3i and including existing shareholders Danish Business Investment, LMX , DICO and TIC. 3i invested €4.8m, with the remaining €1.2m provided by other investors.

In August 2006, four members of the Phase One management team, together with minority shareholder Dansk Erhvervsinvestering, acquired the company from 3i.

Silverfleet acquired a 60% stake alongside the management team led by majority shareholder Henrik Håkonsson in 2014.

Company
Founded in 1992 and based in Copenhagen, Phase One designs and manufactures camera systems for professional photographers and advanced amateurs. The company also has an industrial division supplying camera systems and providing software for processing raw images.

Phase One has offices in New York, London, Cologne, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney and Tel Aviv. It reported sales of DKK 500m for 2017.

People
Silverfleet Capital – Gareth Wiley (managing partner); Rob Knight (principal).
Phase One – Henrik Håkonsson (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – Mooreland Partners (corporate finance); Travers Smith (legal); Bech-Brunn (legal); Deloitte (financial due diligence, tax); McKinsey (commercial due diligence); BearingPoint (IT due diligence).

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• Topics
• Exits
• Buyouts
• Nordics
• Technology
• Silverfleet Capital
• Axcel
• Denmark
• Secondary buyout