Clearwater International's TMT sector commentary...

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Clearwater International's TMT sector commentary 2015

BIM marketSpecial report

View from ChinaM&A prospects

2015 trendsThe year ahead

Top dealsIn-depth analysis

2014 DEALSREVIEW

AMERICANADVENTURESUS leads global M&A charge

the wire | 2015

2welcome

In this issue, we take a particular look atwhat we think will be the key trends,opportunities and challenges of doingbusiness in this ever-changing world ofTMT over the next 12 months.

In the M&A arena, a defining theme is sureto be the power of US corporates - notleast as the American economy continuesto gain real momentum. The volume of USprivate equity houses looking outside of

handful of US tech giants means that italmost becomes self-fulfilling.

A quick glance at some of the landmarkdeals of 2014 proves the point, forinstance: Google's ¤350m acquisition ofdigital home device maker Nest was thefirst major ‘internet of things’ deal thatreally had everyone sit up and take notice.As with the string of deals that followedout of California in 2014, it showed a

the US for deals is growing and the focuson building a truly international businessgrows more important by the year.

It would be great to think that othercountries could create something of realscale which could become a globalconsolidator of amazing technology, butpersonally it is hard to see this happening.The concentration of corporate cash in a

buoyant market for bleeding edge IPamong huge, cash rich, US tech giants.Google, Apple and Facebook all got theirwallets out in 2014, and we should expectno different this year.

Staying in the US, as emerging SaaSbusinesses build up their operationsglobally, we can expect more mega dealsfrom the likes of Oracle, SAP and Microsoft.

Are there particular markets we should bekeeping an eye on? Well, as we report inthis issue, the BIM (Building InformationModelling) market remains particularlyattractive. Also keep an eye out for theApple impact on payment technology,plus changes in ad technology.

Another area to watch is mobility in business.As workforces are increasingly spread outinternationally, and the expectation that wecan connect and work wherever we aregrows exponentially, so the pressures onemployers will rise and systems and data will increasingly move to the Cloud.

I hope you enjoy the read.

Carl HoughtonHead of TMT

the wire is published by Clearwater InternationalEditors: Jim Pendrill and Sarah FernandezDesign: www.creative-bridge.comSubscription: [email protected] part of this publication may be reproduced orused in any form without prior permission ofClearwater International

A warm welcome to this latest issue of the wire,Clearwater International’s annual commentary on the TMT sector.

Welcome

“The concentration of corporate cash in a handful of UStech giants means that it almost becomes self-fulfilling.”

Meet the teamCarl HoughtonPartner+44 (0)845 052 [email protected]

Andreas Lauth LauridsenPartner++45 27 28 78 [email protected]

Per SurlandPartner+45 51 90 40 [email protected]

Emma RodgersDirector+44 (0)845 052 [email protected]

Jonas Angaard MadsenAssociate Director+45 21 68 71 [email protected]

Miguel Ángel LorenzoDirector+351 659 094 [email protected]

Afonso LimaAssociate+351 910 766 [email protected]

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The US continued to drive M&A activityin the TMT sector in 2014.

American adventures

“What is notable is how other countries are really tryingto emulate the US culture now, with very active start-up cultures in the likes of Israel and the UK.”Emma Rodgers, Clearwater International

Clearwater International's TMT team hasbeen doing its own research to get to thebottom of the facts - and the results weresometimes surprising.

Looking at all global TMT deals in 2014,deal volumes were up around 1.6% but themost striking feature was just howdominant US buyers were in the market. In fact, US companies accounted for 42%of all deals as acquirers (43% in 2013).The next most active regions were the UK

The TMT industry is a notoriously globalmarket, from the social giants of SiliconValley to pioneering European telcos andAsia's electronic leaders.

No surprise then that M&A activity in TMTis truly global too, with businesses of allshapes and sizes attracting attention frompotential buyers and investors around theworld. But what geographies and investorsare driving this M&A, and what regions dothey want to invest in?

at 9% (10%) and the Nordic countries at5% (7%). If one just looks at the M&Aactivity of the world’s largest 100 TMTcompanies, then the trend is even morepronounced. In this instance, half of alldeals had a US acquirer while the UKperformed strongly too with British buyersaccounting for almost 20% of transactions.

What is also remarkable is just how manyof these deals involved US companiesbuying other North American companies.

% Cross-border activity by acquirer country

Source: Clearwater research

Total population

n Cross-border deals

n Domestic deals

North Americann Cross-border deals

n Domestic deals

European

n Cross-border deals

n Domestic deals

Across the entire TMT sector, UScompanies accounted for 41% of alltargets. The UK was the second mostpopular destination with 9% of targets,while the Nordic region accounted for 5%of deals. If you break down the analysis tojust the largest 100 companies, thefindings are even more noteworthy.

Three-quarters of all acquisitions byleading US companies were of otherAmerican companies. When they do

47%

23%

78%

the wire | 2015

5analysis

venture abroad, popular destinationsinclude the UK, Israel and Australia - all ofwhich have innovative and thriving TMTsectors too.

Emerging economies

Some will be surprised to find that in spiteof the available growth potential, inboundM&A in emerging economies remained at arelatively low level. Across BRIC territories,for instance, Chinese targets accounted forjust 3% of activity, Brazil 2% and both Indiaand Russia just 1% each.

In terms of outbound activity, there hasbeen a lot of noise about China as anacquirer of TMT assets but in reality thecountry still only accounted for 1% of alltransactions - and three-quarters of thesewere domestic deals.

Clearwater International director EmmaRodgers said the figures emphasise justhow crucial the US TMT industry is to the market as a whole. “The figures arevery striking and ram home how the US,and particularly Silicon Valley, continues to drive the entire industry. It is alsotestament to the country’s amazingculture of innovation that it continues toproduce so many globally attractivebusinesses.

“What is notable is how other countriesare really trying to emulate the US culturenow, with very active start-up cultures inthe likes of Israel and the UK. The Nordicregion also continues to have a realculture of innovation, thanks to the legacyof major brands such as Nokia, TeliaSoneraand Ericsson.”

A number of landmark deals in 2014continued to evoke the great USentrepreneurial spirit. The deal of the yearin the TMT sector was arguably Facebook’s¤19bn acquisition of mobile messagingapplication WhatsApp which allows usersto send messages over internetconnections and avoid text messaging fees.The deal was a perfect example of a bigplayer being prepared to pay a huge pricefor a relatively young business withcoveted technology.

Big software companies also continued tomake major acquisitions which addedadditional vertical expertise or extendedtheir SaaS revenues. For instance, SAPacquired Cloud-based travel and expensemanagement vendor Concur for ¤7.3bn.

Acquirer Country Target Country Deal Value ¤bn

Comcast USA Time Warner Cable USA 56.5

Facebook USA Whatsapp USA 16.2

Altice Luxembourg Société Française du Radiotéléphone France 15.5

Altice Luxembourg PT Portugal SGPS Portugal 8.0

Vodafone Group UK Grupo Corporativo Ono Spain 7.8

SAP Germany Concur Technologies USA 6.9

TW Telecom USA Level 3 Communications USA 6.1

Oracle USA Micros Systems USA 4.5

Empresa Brasileira Brazil Claro Brazil 4.2de Telecomunicações

Tibco Software USA Vista Equity Partners USA 3.7

Top deals in the TMT market 2014

to expand further into central and eastern Europe.

However, technology companies (softwareand IT services) continued to make up thelargest proportion of M&A, with the sectoraccounting for 39% of transactions.

M&A in the technology market continuedto be dominated by the US, due to thefantastic number of small and innovative IP owners picked up by larger and moreestablished counterparts.

These deals were also partly responsible for driving the relatively high multiples seen in the technology sector, providingdisruptive and highly strategic IP whilstoperating at a loss or very low levels ofprofitability.

Media companies accounted for 19% ofM&A activity among th e top 100companies but made up a third of M&Aacross the entire industry, demonstratingthat media is a highly active M&A marketand a sector driven by consolidation.

The likes of British advertising and PRcompany WPP continued to be extremelyacquisitive in 2014. Reporting 45 acquisitionsand investments during the year with a totalspend of ¤461m, this demonstrates themedia sector tendency towards many smalldeals and minority stakes.

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6analysis

Mega deals in telecoms

The trend for blockbuster deals looks set tocontinue into 2015, with the telecomsspace particularly active.

For instance Vodafone is considering a £80bnplus (¤108bn) takeover of cable groupLiberty Global, the owner of Virgin Media, ina bid to accelerate the convergence of mobileand fixed-line telecoms across Europe.

Vodafone has been a particularly acquisitiveplayer in recent years, making lots ofoverseas acquisitions. Last year, itannounced deals in Spain, Italy, Greece andthe Netherlands, as well as in the UK whereit picked up part of the failed Phones 4ubusiness. Adds Rodgers: “This shows howthe UK and other European countries tend

to expand overseas, as opposed to the UStendency to acquire domestically.”

In late 2014, UK telecoms giant BT causeda serious stir in the market when itannounced that it would extend its offeringinto mobile with the acquisition of either EE or O2, eventually plumping for EE in aplanned ¤11bn transaction.

Hot on the heels of that deal, we have seen the Hutchison Whampoa-ownedThree network acquire O2 in a ¤9bn dealand combine the two businesses to createthe largest mobile operator in the UK, witha 40% market share.

Not to be left out, American Movil hasbeen active too, acquiring a 60% stake in Telekom Austria as part of a strategy

Top five most targeted developingcountries for M&A

*top 100 companies

Brazil

Mexico

India

China

South Africa

the wire | 2015

7analysis

Institutional investors

North American investors accountedfor more than half of all PE/VC dealsin TMT in 2014. The UK was alsovery active, accounting for 11% ofdeals. After Germany, the Nordicsand France, no one countryaccounted for more than 1% ofdealflow, demonstrating the ongoingimportance of UK and NorthAmerican funds to activity in themarket - combined, they account fortwo-thirds of all deals.

Emma Rodgers, Director atClearwater International, says: “If youlook at the data across 2014 and2013, there's a clear trend in thecountries where there is significantinstitutional activity - namely the USand Canada, the UK, Nordics,Netherlands, Germany, France and toa lesser extent Italy, Australia andSpain. Clearly the PE and VC marketsin these countries are significantlydeveloped whereas in other countriesthey are nascent. There is the odddeal but no consistent activity.”

Rodgers says it is a similar storywhen you look at where investeesare based, with 54% from NorthAmerica and 10% from the UK,making those countries by far themost active economies when itcomes to companies attractinginstitutional investment in TMT.“Interestingly, there was far lessinvestment into BRIC countries, forexample, or other emergingeconomies than one might expect.”

India and Russia accounted for 2% ofdeals each, but there was littleapparent activity in Brazil and China.

n North America

UK

Germany

Nordics

France

Rest of the world

Location of institutional investor by share of total TMT deals 2014

8feature

Technology is transforming the construction industry and leading to significant M&A activity.

New thinking

“The market has to change and become moreadvanced from a technological perspective. We areworking with solutions that help clients gain moretransparency and enable them to collaborate better so that they can mitigate risk.”Mads Bording, Byggeweb

The BIM market is growing rapidly ascompanies, organisations andgovernments embrace solutions thatdrive efficiencies and help mitigate risk inconstruction projects. In turn, the industryis also consolidating as small firms withinnovative BIM solutions become the

Bording first joined Byggeweb in 2007 as amanagement consultant to review strategy.As he recalls: “At the time, the business washaving trouble accessing capital and was notmature enough to scale up its operations. Myconclusion was that its strategy was poor andnot aligned with its core competencies.”

According to Mads Bording, CEO ofDanish technology company Byggeweb,three things are needed to revolutionisethe IT industry in the constructionsector. New technology, new methodsand new thinking.

Today, such a revolution is already wellunderway as Byggeweb and other leadingplayers in the Building InformationModelling (BIM) software and servicesmarket set about fundamentally changingthe way people and companies operate.

focus of larger players keen to enhancetheir own product portfolios.

Founded in 1997, Byggeweb is a perfectcase in point. The company, which hasbeen at the forefront of developing SaaS-based collaboration software solutionscovering all stages of a building’s life cycle,was acquired last year by RIB Software, aGerman specialist in designing, developingand distributing technology for theconstruction industry. ClearwaterInternational advised on the deal.

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Strategy

Shareholders liked what they heard andwithin a year Bording had become CEO,embarking on a major turnaroundstrategy to make the business far morecommercially driven. “Within a year, mystrategy was vindicated. We hadturned the business around anddelivered the best earnings since thecompany was founded.

“It was a case of reacting quickly andallocating resources appropriately. Wetore down all the walls in the businessand got everyone working much bettertogether. It was about quickly graspingour core competencies and being veryfocused. It was about saying: 'This iswhat we are doing and we are doingnothing else.’ It was that mantra ofemploying new technology, methodsand thinking.”

Until now, Byggeweb’s growth -which has averaged 25% in recentyears - has been very project drivenand achieved through a dedicatedvertical focus. As Bording adds: “Wewould typically find a project,understand a company’s needs andthen design an appropriate solution. Ifyou want to build a software companyin the construction industry, you haveto work vertically.”

Aware of the consolidation that waslikely to take place, a few years agothe company began looking at widerpartnerships and tie-ups. “We startedlooking at M&A to have a strongerstrategic foothold globally,” addsBording. “We looked at companiesthat shared the same vision andsolutions as us, and with whom wecould maybe work together.”

the wire | 2015

The demand for BIM software isexpected to increase significantly asa result of the cost savings it candeliver to construction firms andasset owners, supported byGovernment regulations.

Latest estimates suggest that theBuilding Information Modelling(BIM) market will grow to ¤7.5bnby 2020 at a CAGR of 17%, asarchitects, contractors, developers,Facilities Managers (FMs), buildingproduct manufacturers and othersin the industry increasingly adoptthe technology.

Research from MarketsandMarketssuggests that the industry isgrowing rapidly in many segmentsand applications, with some of thefastest-growing applications likely todouble by 2020 in terms of marketshare. Newer applications and usesare continuously being devised forthis technology, which will furtherpropel the market.

Key players include North Americanfirms Bentley Systems, BeckTechnology, Autodesk, Design Data,Archidata and Trimble Navigation.European leaders include DassaultSystèmes, Nemetschek, Solibri andAsite Solutions.

BIM growth

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Byggeweb first started working with RIBtwo years ago. “In the beginning, it wasnot about doing a deal with them at somestage further down the track: it was morea case that we shared the same vision,both had a global outlook and bothwanted to change the industry. We knewthat in order to do all that we needed tostart integrating our operations.”

Bording says there are few industries whichare crying out for as much technologicalchange as the construction sector. “Itremains an industry where you have a hugenumber of legal entities and professionsworking together, from your architects andengineers through to your lawyers andsurveyors. What is remarkable is how littleconsolidation there is among these differentgroups and how they all act as separateentities. But the market has to change andbecome more advanced from a technologicalperspective. We are working with solutionsthat help clients gain more transparency andenable them to collaborate better so thatthey can mitigate risk.”

Revolution

Bording says this technological revolutionis now gathering pace, thanks to thereliability of the technology and theemergence of big data capabilities.

Meanwhile, since the sale to RIB,Byggeweb has changed its own outlooktoo, with a focus now on delivering end-to-end solutions in largely developedmarkets based on big data. “Four yearsago, we did not have the technology inorder to make this conversion - technologywas not able to support big data needs.But now, all these things have fallen intoplace and we have the technology weneed. We can now radically change theindustry from the inside.”

11feature

the wire | 2015

Bording is now personally responsible forgrowing both the Nordic and UK regions ofthe enlarged business. “We have forecastearnings growth of 123% this year and ouraim is to have a share price eight timestoday’s value by 2020.”

To achieve that goal, there will have to befurther M&A activity. “We are looking atM&A and people with the strongtechnology capability that we require. Ourtarget companies need to show stronggrowth and earnings, and have a verymarket-oriented approach. They also needthe same culture and vision as us.”

UK market

Bording’s view on the potential of BIM isechoed by Business Collaborator (BC), a UKprovider of collaboration software to theconstruction sector and a leader in the BIMsoftware market. The business specialises inproviding a centralised ‘common dataenvironment’ that enables geographicallydispersed teams in the entire supply chain,and over an entire life cycle of a building tostore, share and coordinate projectinformation and processes in the Cloud,utilising the semantic web.

Stephen Crompton, CTO, says BIM - whichhe describes as the collaborative processof creating and maintaining a digitalrepresentation of a physical asset - hasnecessitated a complete step-change inthinking in the industry. Although he saysthe ideas behind BIM have been aroundsince the 1970s, it has taken a while forthe technology to catch up such that it canbe used throughout the supply chain. "Inparticular, it is the proliferation ofbroadband and mobile devices that havemade it happen," says Crompton.

He says the contrast today with howbuilding projects were commonly managed

is staggering in terms of how inefficient oldsystems could be.

“In the past, it could take literally years toget all the information together that youneeded and in a state that could be used forthe ongoing operation of a building. Backthen the capital expenditure of a buildingwas also very often run entirely separatelyfrom the operational expenditure. Decisionswere commonly taken on what was thecheapest way to build rather than thecheapest way to build and run. Peopleoperating a building were all too often notinvolved in the design of a building.”

Government mandate

Crompton says the biggest step-change of all has come from the UK government whichin the wake of the credit crunch has beenlooking for 20% cost savings on public sectorprojects. As he explains: “The Governmentchallenged the industry after the recession,stating that it would like the sameprogrammes but wanted to pay 20% less for them.

“The industry came back and said BIM was the answer. In the process of mandating BIM, the Government actually definedexactly what BIM was. It has standardisedand structured the data so that now you canbuild lots of schools and hospitals using thesame information. Such standards allow us tocreate turnkey solutions.”

Crompton says the move has had a knock-on effect on the private sector. “The industrywoke up to the fact that it could save 20%too, become experts in BIM and then sellthat expertise to the rest of the world. Theresult is that it has been a shot in the arm for the whole industry in the UK.”

The ambition of BC - which went throughits own buyout in 2014, in a deal

supported by Clearwater International -and others in the market is to now spreadthis message globally. “Our main focus fornow remains on the UK, but many of ourclients are international and I fully expectthat BC will help them deliver BIM forthese global projects too. Everyone islooking at the UK and the success of whatwe are doing. We are building real expertise in the sector,” adds Crompton.

the wire | 2015

12trends

What will be the key technological trends of 2015?Members of Clearwater International’s TMT team share their views.

Into the future

"Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft are all lookingfor that next deal that will give them an edge." Per Surland, Clearwater International

What was the mostsignificant TMT dealof 2014?

The US listing of Alibabawas significant and it

was interesting to see how investorsvalued its potential. Facebook’s acquisitionof WhatsApp was noteworthy, given howyoung the company is.

What will be the key trends of thenext 12 months?

Large companies will continue to acquirestart-ups and early stage softwarecompanies which have reached a certainlevel but cannot scale globally. Here inDenmark, I can think of quite a fewbusinesses which are starting to gain realtraction and which would be of interestto bigger players.

Larger companies are also stepping uptheir corporate venturing strategiesright now.

What did the deal tell us about thestate of the market?

WhatsApp just shows the continuedpotential of the social media space.Remember that Facebook also tried toacquire Snapchat before the WhatsAppdeal. It shows that the market is stillcreating a lot of value. Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft are alllooking for that next deal that will givethem an edge.

Will US corporates continue to be thekey driver of M&A activity?

Exchange rates are definitely helping UScompanies at the moment when it comesto overseas acquisitions. But US corporatesalso have very strong cashflow and willcontinue to be on the lookout for dealswhich will help them grow in their markets.

What will be the key challenges in the sector?

Some companies have become so large andnow offer so many different services that it

has become a very crowded space forsmaller players. The whole ‘time to market’has become a real issue for smaller firmstoo. Because of their corporate venturingstrategies, bigger players are getting fasterand faster at bringing their products tomarket and can capture market sharequickly. Start-ups do not have themarketing capacity to compete with that.

What are the prospects for emerging markets?

The TMT sector still seems to have a wayto go in these markets. However, India hasbeen performing quite well across thesector. Alibaba is active in the country,while last year there was a lot ofinvestment in India’s e-commerce sectorvia the likes of Flipkart and Snapdeal.

What will be the 'must have' productof 2015?

I would go for 4k TV technology beingdeveloped by the likes of LG andSamsung. And the smartwatch, of course.

Per Surland, Partner

What was the mostsignificant TMT deal of2014?

Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp.

What did the deal tell us about thestate of the market?

WhatsApp was a ‘must buy’ for Facebookand the price was driven by that need,making all financial metrics irrelevant.


There is an increasing encroachment onthe marketing services space by bigbusinesses in the IT and BPO fields. Bigsoftware companies will continue to fillout their marketing software portfolio, aswith Oracle’s purchase of Responsys,Salesforce with ExactTarget, and IBM withSilverpop. Big data will also be a big driverof media deals in 2015.

Will US corporates continue to be thekey driver of M&A activity?

Definitely. Our data shows that,historically, US corporates and PEinvestors are a major feature of M&A inthe TMT market globally. As the economyimproves that can only mean that M&Avolumes globally will rise. We are seeingan increasing number of US PE investorsdemonstrating serious interest inEuropean mid-market assets.


Staying current in a market that movesincreasingly, and scarily, fast.

Where will be the strongestopportunities?

Being the new Uber. Identifying a newmarket and completely nailing it.

What are the prospects for emerging markets?

Corporates are investing significantly inthese markets and will continue to do soas they chase growth in fast-growingeconomies.

What will be the 'must have' productof 2015?

It’s got to be the Apple watch. Given myhousehold has one MacBook, two iPadsand three iPhones, I can’t rule out ourinterest in this one!

What was the mostsignificant TMT dealof 2014?

Comcast’s acquisition ofTime Warner kicked off

the first of a number of mega deals for2014 including Facebook’s acquisition ofWhatsApp and AT&T’s purchase ofDIRECTV.

What did the deals tell us about thestate of the market?

The TMT sector is one of the mostattractive sectors to invest in, both at the‘mega’ and smaller scale, supported bythe high volume of mid-market dealswhich also took place last year.


After losing out to Private Equity on anumber of deals in 2014, cash richcorporate acquirers will need to change

their approach to valuations in order tosecure prized assets. However, PrivateEquity will still continue to push moneyout of their doors through investmentinto bolt-on acquisitions for their latestportfolio investments.

Are there particular companies weshould be watching closely?

Along with the usual players such asGoogle, Twitter, Yahoo, Apple, Facebookand Microsoft, there are a number ofother TMT operators who wereparticularly active in 2014. J2 Global,Intuit and Rakuten have all completed anumber of recent high profile transactionsand it will be interesting to see how thesestrategic investments pan out over thecourse of the next 12 to 18 months.


Knowing where to invest both capital andresources from a geographic andtechnological perspective. The regulationand risk profiles across variousjurisdictions will continue to fluctuatefrom one region to the next untilgovernments within specific regions areable to align in the goal of facilitatinginnovation and healthy competition.

Where will be the strongestopportunities?

I would expect the UK to remain a hottarget for North American and Pan-Asianoperators looking to gain a stepping stoneinto European expansion. I’d also expect afair amount of investment taking a returnflight from recent cross-border activity,such as South American operators seekingout opportunities in Europe and, likewise,European firms looking for expansionopportunities in the US.

the wire | 2015

Emma Rodgers, Director

Oliver Wheatley, Associate

13trends

14research

the wire | 2015

The Chinese market will still be full of opportunity overthe next few years, says Eduardo Morcillo fromClearwater International China.

“The Chinese TMT market is not only booming but iscreating its very own eco-system which is completelydetached from the rest of the world.”

accurately calculated that the statestimulus in terms of investment and publiclending has been worth in the region of 2-3% to GDP growth over recent years.

This state investment created manyeconomic disparities. Increasedcorruption, excess capacity, questionablebank loans and bubbles in the real estateand industrial manufacturing sectorswere just some of the consequences ofthis state-backed splurge in spending.

Indeed, the China Daily newspaper is fullof corruption scandals these days andthe Government is very keen to makethese scandals public.

As such, there is now a real change inattitude and a willingness to tacklecorruption. The anti-corruption drive hasalso had an extraordinary impact oncertain sectors such as the high-endluxury market, retail, tourism, five-starhotel and jewellery sectors.

Latest data suggests the Chineseeconomy is heading for a sustainedperiod, say of up to five years, of around6-7% GDP growth. This, of course, hascome as quite a shock to thosecommentators and economists alike whohave become very used to consistentgrowth rates of 9-10% in recent years.So, why the slowdown?

The main reason is that the Governmenthas deliberately decided to slow down theeconomy. Indeed, it can be fairly

Over the coming years, we could still seemini stimuli to specific parts of theeconomy to ensure GDP levels do notdrop too much. But the days of massivestate-fuelled spending are over.

Short-term

As well as tightening its purse strings,the state has tightened up on the worstexcesses of its economic boom. One ofthe most notable policies has been amassive clampdown on corruption.

Middle class

The middle class is still growing by 30 to40 million people every 18 months, drivenby the spread of urbanisation - especiallyinto tier two, three and four cities.

The service industry has been completelyrebooted in recent years, with untoldimprovements to living standards andsignificant investment in healthcare,education and environmentalsectors.These markets are performingvery strongly right now, for instance:healthcare is growing at more than 20%.

TMT market

The Chinese TMT market is not onlybooming but creating its very own eco-system which is completely detached fromthe rest of the world. The TMT companiesthat are growing here are actually uniqueand the market is huge.

For example, we now have 700 millionmobile users which represents the highestgrowth of internet consumption in theworld. In terms of numbers, the Chinesemobile industry could be triple the size ofthe US market very soon. Chinese TMTcompanies will become huge simply fromserving this domestic client base, whichwill create a very fast-moving anddynamic market with start-ups flourishing.

Growth prospects

RIB Software AG

Cross-border disposal of adeveloper of SaaS-modelcollaboration solutions

Clearwater International advisedthe vendors

Byggeweb

Aller Media A/S

Disposal of a creator ofpublications, related advertisingand content marketing solutions


Datagraf Group

Living Bridge

Secondary buy-out of a developerof field force automation solutionswhich supports 25,000 mobileworkers around the world

Clearwater Internationalprovided Debt Advisory Services

Kirona

YFM Private Equity

Management buy-out of adeveloper of SaaS-model BuildingInformation Modelling (BIM) toolsfor the construction and assetmaintenance markets

Clearwater International advisedthe management team

Business Collaborator

Trimble Navigation Inc

Cross-border disposal of adeveloper of 3D CAD solutions for the structuralengineering market


CSC (World)

Kennet Partners/FidelityGrowth Partners Europe

Disposal of a provider of SaaS-model governance, risk and compliance solutions


Rivo Software

Portquay West

Minority buy out of Portuguesemedia corporation

Clearwater International advisedon the purchase

Grupo Media Capital

Aures Technologies SA

Cross-border acquisition of asupplier of PC-based touchscreen electronic point of saleterminals (EPOS)

Clearwater Intentional advisedthe vendors

J2 Retail

Via Venture Partners A/S

Private equity acquisition of theholding interest in a Danishhosting and outsource IT company

Clearwater International advisedVia Ventures

Host Nordic

International reach,Excellent client outcomes

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