UK private equity firm Bridgepoint Development has tapped its fourth flagship fund to acquire supply chain risk management company Achilles.
Achilles says it aims to provide buyers with insights of the businesses they work with to enhance supply chains. It has a client base of 550 buyers and 100,000 suppliers in different industries. Bridgepoint said it will expand Achilles’ capabilities around key focus areas like ESG, CSR and health and safety.
Matt Legg, director of Bridgepoint Development Capital, said, “Supply chains across the world are under increased pressure and scrutiny, creating opportunities for those companies who are able to provide data-driven solutions to ensure more sustainable and ethical solutions. Achilles, with its global platform, breadth of risk coverage, in-house audit capabilities, and depth of data validation provides a compelling proposition to its customers.
“We look forward to working with the Achilles management team and have already identified multiple avenues to drive value creation in a sector which is growing due to increasing supply chain complexity and corporate focus on supply chain risk and ESG.”
Bridgepoint closed BDC IV last September on the hard cap of £1.6bn, more than 50% above its initial target – making it one of the biggest PE funds in Europe focused on lower mid-market buyouts and growth capital deals.
BDC IV was more than twice the size of its £605m third fund in the strategy, which it closed in 2016.
Bridgepoint made a surprise announcement in June that it was planning to list on the London Stock Exchange. The firm, which currently manages about €27.4bn of assets, said it plans to raise about £300m through the issuance of new ordinary shares in the IPO.
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