Hellman & Friedman kicks off talks for TeamSystem stake sale

Maryna Irkliyenko , Charlie Taylor-Kroll , Cristiano Dalla Bona and Micaela Osella
06 March 2023

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Hellman & Friedman has kicked off discussions with sponsors and sovereign wealth funds looking to participate in the minority stake sale of Italy’s TeamSystem, four sources familiar with the situation said.

Permira, KKR, Warburg Pincus, Silver Lake, General Atlantic, and TA Associates are among the sponsors selected for conversations over the acquisition of a minority stake in the Italian cloud software specialist, two sources said. Five Arrows Principal Investments, the investment arm of Rothschild, is also among sponsors showing interest, one source added.

This follows reports in January that Evercore had been appointed by H&F to explore a potential transaction and had been sounding out investors.

Sovereign wealth funds including the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, which were previously reported to be showing interest, are also participating in talks, two sources said. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) was also reported to be showing interest in the stake.

Information memoranda were distributed to prospective bidders in recent weeks, two sources said. These bidders signed non-disclosure agreements at the start of February, another added. The sale is being run informally through discussions with prospective buyers, with no formal timeline yet set, two of these sources added.

Offers could come in the next two months depending on the level of interest, one of the sources and a fifth source said.

Goldman Sachs has been appointed alongside Evercore to handle the sale, two of the sources said. EY and Freshfields have also been appointed on the sellside, added one of the sources and a sixth source familiar.

H&F is looking to sell between a 25-30% stake in the business, one source said. The stake sale could value the company as a whole at 20x core earnings, or EUR 6bn including debt, as reported.

TeamSystem, a business management software provider for small and medium sized enterprises, generated revenues of EUR 545m and core earnings of around EUR 235m in FY21, as reported.

Hellman & Friedman, TeamSystem, Permira, KKR, General Atlantic, TA Associates, Silver Lake, ADIA and Freshfields declined to comment. Five Arrows, Warburg Pincus, Goldman Sachs, Evercore, EY, GIC and QIA did not respond to requests for comment.