Volpi Capital announces landmark transaction with the sale of Version 1

London, 22 April 2022 - Volpi Capital LLP (“Volpi” or the “Firm”) is thrilled to announce that it has reached a major milestone this week with the signing of its first portfolio exit; an agreement to sell its shareholding in Version 1 to Partners Group, who will become Version 1’s new partner and majority shareholder alongside the management team. Volpi’s first exit alone will return Fund I’s outstanding commitments in their entirety as well as clearing the majority of the performance hurdle.

This industry-defining sale and landmark transaction for Volpi validates its value-add strategy, delivering on the promises we have made to our investors since 2016.

We are enormously proud of the outcome of our partnership with the company – the growth of Version 1 is a testament to the strength of the Volpi strategy. The Version 1 transaction is a compelling indicator of the quality of the remaining assets in Volpi’s Fund I portfolio – the best is yet to come.

Version 1 is a leading digital and cloud transformation partner to public and private sector customers. Volpi acquired Version 1 in 2017 alongside its founders and management team. It represented a true “Pick-your-Partner” bi-lateral transaction driven by Volpi’s deep understanding of the business and its ability to build management conviction in its growth acceleration capabilities.

Under Volpi’s successful 5-year partnership, Version 1 has tripled in size becoming a player of significant scale with the number of FTEs growing from ~850 employees at entry to 2,000+ employees today and delivering consistently strong performance. Version 1’s revenues have increased to over €240 million through a combination of strong organic growth and selective acquisitions.

The success of this transaction owes much to Volpi’s hands-on approach to creating value through its core repeatable levers: Internationalisation, Transformational M&A and Building Organisations for the Future. In addition to successfully scaling the business, among other things, Volpi:

• Internationalised the business further to become a market leader in both the Republic of Ireland and the UK and added additional offices in Spain, the USA and India;
• Delivered on our buy-and-build thesis and performed 6 add-on acquisitions during our partnership;
• Diversified revenue mix further into the higher margin private sector and adopted a data-driven commercial sales engine;
• Improved go-to-market excellence by specialising the sales team by industry and role;
• Successfully managed the founder succession, grew the management team, and built an organisation for the future;
• Drove organisational excellence through ESG making Version 1 an industry leader; and
• Expanded the product offering with the introduction of the next-generation managed services platform ASPIRE.

Commenting, Crevan O’Grady, Volpi Capital said: Volpi’s execution of its value creation strategy enabled Version 1 to be optimally positioned for exit and sets it up well for its next phase of growth. We thoroughly enjoyed supporting Version 1’s superb management team and staff over the past 5 years and wish Version 1 and Partners Group every success for the future.

Subject to customary approvals the transaction is expected to complete by mid-2022.

About Volpi Capital

Volpi Capital is a specialist European lower mid-market private equity firm seeking ambitious businesses that use technology to disrupt traditional B2B value chains. Volpi typically invests €25-75 million of equity in businesses with enterprise values between €50 million and €200 million and seeks to drive transformative growth through international expansion and consolidation. The firm, which was founded in 2016 by Crevan O’Grady and Marco Sodi, closed its second fund (Volpi Capital Fund II) in December 2020 with €323 million of commitments

Media enquiries Volpi Capital
Samantha Lang
Public Relations
+44 203 747 2625.
info@volpicapital.com