Kempen co-invests in £46.5m Eque2 MBO

Kempen co-invested in the MBO with its long-time UK investment partner WestBridge Capital and, as a group, they have a majority stake in the business, with the balance owned by the Eque2 management team. This is the seventh direct deal from Kempen European Private Equity Fund and its second UK-focused deal.

The fund closed on €192.5m in December 2019 and invests mostly in companies with enterprise values of €20-40m, providing equity tickets of €3-15m in the following regions: Benelux, DACH, France, the UK and the Nordic countries.

WestBridge acquired Eque2 from LDC in December 2020, marking the firm's sixth investment from WestBridge SME Fund II, which closed on £140m in June 2019. The fund was 47% deployed as of June 2020. WestBridge and Kempen have previously worked together on deals. The firm acquired a 75% stake in the business and invested £29m in equity.

Previous funding
Livingbridge invested in the carve-out of Eque2 (then known as Sage Construction) from parent group Sage in May 2013. The firm drew capital for the transaction from its Baronsmead VCT.

LDC backed a £16m secondary buyout with a minority investment in November 2017, alongside the company's other institutional shareholders.

Company
Manchester-based Eque2 supplies business management software to 2,700 customers in the construction, housebuilding and contracting industries, according to a statement. The company reported revenues of £15m and EBITDA of £2.1m in the year ending on 29 April 2019.

People
Kempen Private Markets – Sven Smeets (managing director); Edzard Potgieser (director).
WestBridge Capital – Guy Davies (managing partner).

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