DENVER – February 4, 2020 – Q Advisors, a global boutique investment bank serving public and private companies, PE firms, entrepreneurs and large multinationals in the telecom, media and technology (TMT) sectors, announced today that it acted as exclusive financial advisor to Apax Partners SAS (“Apax”), a Paris-based European leader in private equity in connection with its acquisition of Destiny, from its controlling shareholder Mentha Capital. Q Advisors also assisted the Destiny management team in structuring the go-forward transaction with Apax. Destiny is a leading pan-European cloud communications and managed services solutions provider serving innovative companies in Belgium and the Netherlands and, with the contemporaneous closing of the acquisition of Open IP, also in France. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
With more than 45 years of experience, Apax provides long-term equity funding to build and strengthen fast-growing middle market companies in the TMT, consumer, healthcare and services sectors around the world. Funds managed and advised by Apax exceed €3.3 billion.
“Q Advisors’ knowledge of the European cloud landscape and the key players proved beneficial to the Apax team as we evaluated the Destiny transaction and provided an interesting road map for our consolidation aspirations,” said Thomas De Villeneuve, Partner at Apax Partners SAS. “The team also was extremely helpful in assisting with the structuring of the transaction and ensuring a successful closing. We look forward to working on future telecom deals with the Q Advisors team.”
Destiny is the fastest-growing cloud and telecoms player in the Belgian and Dutch B2B market. This transaction enables Destiny to continue its rapid expansion and acquisition strategy in the fast-growing European cloud-based unified communications market.
“When our management team determined we needed an advisor to assist us with the selection of a Private Equity partner, the Q Advisors team stood out, for both their knowledge of the European UCaaS space and their ability to structure a transaction for the Destiny management team that worked for us, as well as Apax,” stated Daan de Wever, Founder and CEO of Destiny Telecom. “The team supported us every step of the way through this complex transaction and worked side-by-side with our management team to ask the right questions of all interested parties so that we understood the ‘art of the possible’ as we position Destiny for future growth in a consolidating market. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Q Advisors.”
“We are proud to have worked alongside Apax and the Destiny founders throughout this fast-paced transaction,” commented Michael Quinn, Founding Partner at Q Advisors. “This transaction further strengthens Q Advisors’ leading position in the growing and consolidating European cloud and managed services sectors.”
In addition to its M&A practice, Q Advisors’ capital markets and private placement team have extensive experience on both sides of financing transactions, having served as advisors with industry-leading financing institutions. The team has also raised significant equity and debt capital in founding and managing operating companies. This unique blend of advisory and operating experience enables Q Advisors to bring real-world solutions to financing strategies. As owners who know what it’s like to live with the terms of growth or recapitalization financing, Q Advisors is uniquely skilled at structuring institutional debt, equity and hybrid financing to public and private companies in the telecom, media and technology sectors.
For more information on Q Advisors, please visit www.qllc.com or email the Q Advisors team.
Q Advisors Represents Apax Partners SAS and Destiny Founders in Recapitalization Transaction
