DevCo acquires minority stake in Bluefors

Partner Lauri Stadigh told Unquote: "When we look at this decade, we think there will be significant growth opportunities for the company. The cryogenic measurement systems that the company manufactures are critical components used in the development of quantum computers, and, since the founding of the company in 2008, Bluefors has played a significant role in enabling the development of quantum computing and related fundamental physics research." 

Stadigh said that he came to know the co-founder Rob Blaauwgeers  two years ago that relationship has improved since: "In particular, Rob has got to know the DevCo approach and the broader team even better, and that we're not a short-sighted company – we're aiming to be a long-term partner, with more than a 10-year horizon."

CEO Rob Blaauwgeers, chief operating officer Pieter Vorselman and the GP will each own roughly a similar stake.

Speaking about plans for Bluefors' growth, Stadigh said: "The company has historically been growing at 30% annually. We have a joint ambition of continuing a similar growth trajectory over the medium term. We see a lot of interesting growth opportunities just by maintaining the organic growth rate."

He added, however, that "we haven't excluded any opportunities from the table in case there might be some additional competencies we might want to acquire later on. Given how rapidly the quantum computer market is growing today, at 20-30% annually, that gives us a lot of possibilities." 

The GP is deploying equity from DevCo Partners III, which raised €180m at the end of 2019. It told Unquote that a significant part of the third fund was deployed, but that it also had a significant part of the fund left to support Bluefors' growth over the medium term.

The Finnish private equity firm runs a single-asset fund structure, raising one fund for one platform investment. It previously raised two vehicles in order to finance two platform investments, Vexve Armatury Group in 2016 and Medix Biochemica in 2018 and their respective bolt-ons. 

Company
Founded in 2008 and based in Helsinki, Bluefors manufactures cryogenic measurement systems used in making quantum computers. The company has 250 staff in Finland, Germany and the US. In 2020, it had a turnover of €82m and an EBITDA margin of 30%, with exports accounting for 90% of revenues.

People
DevCo – Lauri Stadigh (partner).
Bluefors – Rob Blaauwgeers (CEO, founder); Pieter Vorselman (chief operating officer).

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