Apheon to continue successful partnership with TMC and Haudecoeur

  • Apheon-controlled continuation fund to support TMC and Haudecoeur in their next phase of growth
  • HarbourVest Partners to lead continuation fund, which closed on €435 million of capital commitments

Apheon announces the continuation of its successful partnership with TMC and Haudecoeur (the “Portfolio Companies”), two high-performing assets held in Apheon MidCap Buyout IV SCSp (“AMB IV”). AMB IV will be selling its stake in both companies to a multi-asset continuation fund, Apheon TMC HDC Long Term Value Fund SCSp (“ATH LTVF” or the “Fund”), controlled by Apheon. The transaction will consist of minority investments next to the Fund by MML Capital in TMC and of LFPI in Haudecoeur. The management teams and founders of both companies will also reinvest meaningfully.

The Fund closed on €435 million of capital commitments to invest solely in TMC and Haudecoeur, and will provide an extended investment horizon and additional capital to continue building both platforms and support a new phase of growth. A portion of the new commitments will be available to the Fund to use as follow-on capital to support organic growth and strategic M&A initiatives at both companies.

The Fund attracted overwhelming interest and will be underwritten by HarbourVest Partners, a global private markets firm, as lead investor. It has been further supported by existing Apheon investors, who were provided the option to reinvest into the Fund and participate in future growth or generate liquidity.

The Portfolio Companies in the multi-asset Fund are:

  • TMC – Founded in 2000, TMC is active in international technology and R&D consulting focusing on high growth end-markets operating through its unique “employeneurship” model. Under AMB IV ownership, TMC has almost tripled in size to around €275 million turnover, scaled its international rollout, added specialist capabilities, and completed several highly strategic acquisitions. Under Apheon’s continued ownership and in partnership with MML, TMC is well positioned for continued organic growth and accelerated market consolidation.
  • Haudecoeur – Founded in 1932, Haudecoeur is the leading ethnic food player in France well known for its portfolio of reference brands (e.g., Samia, Riz du Monde). Under AMB IV ownership, Haudecoeur more than doubled in size to around €280 million turnover, transitioned from founder-led to being fully independent with significantly professionalized operations, and performed select add-on acquisitions in complementary regions and product ranges. Under Apheon’s continued ownership and partnership with LFPI, Haudecoeur is set to continue its rapid organic growth trajectory and accelerate add-on acquisitions in strategic markets to become the European category leader.

Wolfgang de Limburg, Managing Partner of Apheon, commented: “We are excited to embark on this new chapter with TMC and Haudecoeur. This transaction enables us to continue supporting our star assets and their management teams in their respective growth strategies across the long-term, with the aim of building European champions, consistent with the Apheon platform blueprint. This transaction delivers significant liquidity to our investors and -as many of them elected to significantly reinvest into the Fund- also signals their strong confidence in our ability to create meaningful value during the next investment cycle”

Valérie Handal, Managing Director at HarbourVest Partners, adds: “We are delighted to partner with Apheon for this transaction. Providing thoughtful, customised solutions to strong General Partners that enable them to continue the value creation journey with some of their best performing and highest potential portfolio companies has been an integral part of HarbourVest’s continuation solutions strategy. We look forward to continuing to support the exciting growth prospects of TMC and Haudecoeur with Apheon.”

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals. Apheon was advised by Evercore, Kirkland & Ellis and Rothschild & Co.

About Apheon

Apheon is a pan-European mid-market private equity investment company managing ~€3 billion of assets from select global institutional investors and families. Apheon is characterized by its partnership approach, providing “patient and friendly capital” and industrial know-how to entrepreneurs and management teams, preparing their companies for the future. Through its pan-European footprint, the firm acts as a gateway into Europe for companies in the mid-market. Since its founding in 2005, Apheon has raised more than €3.8 billion in capital, invested in ~40 companies across Europe and completed ~200 add-on acquisitions for a total aggregate transaction value in excess of €7 billion. Apheon’s current portfolio consists of ~20 companies across its target sectors, representing ~€3 billion sales and ~22,000 employees. Apheon is advised by Apheon Advisors which has offices in Brussels, Milan, Madrid, Paris, Munich and Amsterdam. For more information, please visit www.apheon.com.

About HarbourVest Partners

HarbourVest is an independent, global private markets firm with over 42 years of experience and more than $132 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2024. Our interwoven platform provides clients access to global primary funds, secondary transactions, direct co-investments, real assets and infrastructure, and private credit. Our strengths extend across strategies, enabled by our team of more than 1,200 employees, including more than 245 investment professionals across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Across our private markets platform, our team has committed more than $59 billion to newly-formed funds, completed over $58 billion in secondary purchases, and invested over $41 billion in direct operating companies. We partner strategically and plan our offerings innovatively to provide our clients with access, insight, and global opportunities.

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For more information, please contact:

John Mansvelt, COO, Apheon

jm@apheon.com

T: +32 2 213 60 90

Natalia Yek, Head of Investor Relations, Apheon

ny@apheon.com

T: +32 2 213 60 90

Our manifesto: contributing to the development of sustainable finance

Sustainability generates long-term and higher value

Apheon’s ambition is to contribute to the development of sustainable finance by placing sustainability at the core of its strategy and demonstrating by example that it delivers higher and better value for portfolio companies and investors.
 
We are convinced that businesses that respect the planet, that look after their employees and that support their communities will in turn attract the best talent, differentiate themselves from their competition and ultimately emerge as the strongest in the future.

A holistic and collective approach

To succeed with this strategy, Apheon believes a holistic and collective approach is fundamental.

Holistic: it is essential that all aspects of ESG are equally and continuously supported. This is why we are active at every stage of the investment cycle by applying proprietarily developed methodologies and initiatives which are built on 5 priorities covering the broad ESG spectrum:

  • Sustainable revenues (strategy): increasing, when applicable, the share of revenues which directly benefit the environment and/or society

  • Carbon (environment): reducing emissions

  • Talent (social): creating a positive working environment which will attract, develop and retain the best talent

  • Youth, diversity and inclusion (societal): fostering a more inclusive society

  • Transparency (governance): reporting on metrics transparently, and being transparent on potential obstacles
Collective: we believe that it is only through collective action that we can create significant impact. This is why it is our intention to pull together Apheon’s entire ecosystem to undertake our ESG initiatives. This includes mobilizing our employees, portfolio companies, investors, external experts, charitable organizations, public institutions and peers. At this time of global transition, we believe that sustainable finance plays a key role in advancing towards a sustainable planet and society. Financial players, in particular private equity firms such as Apheon, are in a position to drive forward action by leveraging their business model of transforming companies. Apheon is keen to play such role and to move forward every day with humility but also conviction.