Verdane Capital exits KSD to Descartes

Descartes wholly acquired KSD in an all-cash transaction on 2 May 2013. Prior to the sale, Verdane was the largest shareholder in KSD with a 43% equity stake held via its fund Verdane ETF III SPV KS.

In addition to Verdane, the company was also backed by private investors and employees.

The GP deemed it the right time to sell, as the company had just made the transition to a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) business model, with strong recurring revenues during the holding period. 

Verdane wanted to find an owner with a larger customer base to take over KSD in order to make the most of the software platform and drive global sales.

Verdane hired Alfa Corporate to broker the deal, which was structured as an auction process. Five strategic bidders participated in the final rounds of the auction. KSD was put on the market before Christmas last year, but the final process is understood to have only taken a few weeks.

Verdane first invested in KSD through the acquisition of Eqvitec Technology Fund III in 2011.

Company
Founded in 1976, KSD is a Scandinavian provider of software systems for customs declaration, transport management and freight forwarding.

The company provides electronic customs filing solutions for countries in the EU, as well as Switzerland, Norway, Israel, the US and Canada.

KSD is headquartered in Oslo and has eight offices located in Scandinavia and Benelux.

People
Arne Simensen and Staffan Mörndal are partners at Verdane.

Advisers
Vendor – Schjødt, Einar Caspersen (Legal); Alpha Corporate Finance, Erik Schwabe (Corporate finance).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Nordics
• Exits
• Technology
• Now researching
• Norway
• Verdane Capital Partners
• Trade sale