Deals

Gilde Buy-Out Partners purchases IP consulting group

Underlining the importance of intellectual property rights, Gilde Buy-Out Partners has purchased Novagraaf, a specialist in the growing market, from rivals Alpinvest and Halder

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Dutch mid-market buyout firm Gilde Buy-Out Partners is buying Novagraaf Holding, an intellectual property company based in the Netherlands, from Alpinvest and Halder.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. This is the fifth investment from the €600 million Gilde Buy-Out Fund III.

Alpinvest and Halder had acquired their stakes in Novagraaf in 2000. Novagraaf had sales on €62 million in 2006.

Gilde invested along with managers and key employees from Novagraaf. Eric-Jan Vink, of Gilde, will sit on the Novagraaf board and Ad Verkuyten will be chairman of the supervisory board. Verkuyten was chief executive of Dutch technology company Roentgen Technische Dienst which was bought by ABN AMRO in April 2006.

Vink said intellectual property will be increasingly important in the economy and Novagraaf was a “growing and interesting business”, which attracted interest from other parties in the auction.

William Blair advised for the sellers. Gilde did not take advice.