18/01/2024

Henko Partners’ 2023 Annual Review

Madrid, January 18th 2023. – 2023 is behind us and we recharged our batteries during the Christmas holidays. We are back in business now and we want to share a brief summary of Henko Partners year #3!­

Here’s what 2023 looked like for us…

New investments

  • Link: Leading IT consulting company in Portugal providing cutting-edge technology solutions to help organizations navigate digital transformation. Henko will support’s Link’s international growth while further developing the service portfolio with a strong focus on innovation.
  • Quadrante: International buy & build project to create a leading engineering firm focused on sustainability. Lisbon-headquartered Quadrante seeks to strengthen its position as an integrated global player in the engineering and environmental consulting sector.

Portfolio development

Despite macroeconomic uncertainty in 2023, our portfolio companies have grown again organically at double digits, complemented by add-on acquisitions. Great thank you to our fantastic management teams!

  • Voltan doubles in size and expands to substations and transmission lines: Voltan acquired Garoc to enter into maintenance services for the electricity transmission and distribution (T&D) market. This integration positions Voltan as one of the leading Iberian technical services companies in the energy sector, with approximately €90m in turnover.
  • Defeder grows inorganically in France: Defeder acquired Calcisol, a distributor of organic fertilizers focussed on France. In addition to its strong presence in Iberia, this acquisition positions Defeder as a key player in the French market.
  • Revergy maintains its high growth pace: 2023 has been another stellar year of organic growth at Revergy, thanks to strong demand from existing and new clients for its asset management and operations & maintenance services for solar and wind parks, across Europe and Latin America.
  • A new star rises: Astrum: During 2023, we invested in CROs across France (PopsiCube), Germany (Pharmalog) and Portugal (BlueClinical), renaming the new pan-European group Astrum. In parallel, BioClever, our initial 2022 acquisition in Spain, continued to deliver high growth and outstanding clinical trial services.
  • Link and Quadrante: joined the Henko family as new platform investments, and we are looking forward to working with them in 2024.

Talent attraction

  • Strong portfolio reinforcement: In 2023, we continue to be able to attract fantastic talent to our portfolio companies. We hired 10 professionals for C-level roles, as well as 5 new board members. They will play a key role in the development of our companies.

….and this is what we expect for 2024

Key portfolio development initiatives

  • Link aims to acquire several add-ons in 2024 with a focus on Spanish IT companies in cybersecurity, data & AI, and technical front-end development.
  • Quadrante will continue to grow organically while advancing with its inorganic growth strategy, focused on Spain in 2024. The company also aims to increase its exposure to the energy market.
  • Astrum will show strong organic growth executing its backlog, and the company will start to draw on the commercial synergies between the sister companies. In terms of inorganic growth, we will continue to look for further European add-on acquisitions.
  • Revergy will growth significantly, driven by a portfolio of multi-year contracts. We will also consider selective add-on acquisitions of specialized wind turbine and photovoltaic service companies as well as asset management companies.
  • Defeder will expand the product portfolio with new high-quality products and will enter into further international markets via acquisitions.
  • Voltan will continue to grow organically benefiting from a strong international backlog. We will also continue with the buy & build programme. In addition to add-ons in Iberia, we will look for attractive companies across Europe to strength Voltan’s presence in substations and high/medium voltage lines.

Maintain the investment pace

We are looking forward to continuing to engage with new companies and great management teams in 2024. For new investments, our focus is on companies in the following sectors in Spain and Portugal: energy & sustainability, industrial automation, technology and healthcare & pharma services.


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· Private equity experience across Spain, Portugal, UK and Germany.

 

· Previously partner at Sherpa Capital, Spanish Private Equity with > €350m of assets under management (2020) focused on SMEs in Spain and Portugal.

 

· Partner at DPE Deutsche Private Equity, private equity fund targeting SMEs with €1.2bn of assets under management (2017).

 

· Morgan Stanley Capital Partners.

 

· MPA Harvard University, BSc from LSE London School of Economics.

Lars Becker

Partner

· Former EY Strategy and Transactions Analyst, providing corporate finance solutions in strategic advisory, valuation, m&a, financial restructuring and due diligence.

 

· Previous experience at UBS and Deutsche Bank.

 

· Master in Finance from IE Business School.

 

· Double degree in Business Administration and Actuarial Science from URJC.

Daniel Largo
Analyst

· Previously Investment Associate at Sherpa Capital.

 

· Previous experience at BBVA and Amazon.

 

· Master's Degree in Industrial Engineering from ICAI (Universidad Pontificia Comillas)

Pablo Fernández
Associate

· Extensive experience in finance and management control.

 

· Previous experience as CFO and Client Operations Director at Jones Lang Lasalle, Bouygues and Carrefour, proven ability to implement action plans and process reengineering to improve the company performances.

 

· Degree in Business Administration from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and MBA by IE.

Vanesa Valentín
CFO

· João has a strong background in M&A advisory services in the Portuguese and Spanish markets.

 

· João started his career at KPMG Portugal providing corporate finance and M&A advisory services and he has also worked at Alantra´s Credit Portfolio Advisory division. 


· João has a MSc in Management and Finance from Cass Business School and a BSc in Business Administration from Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics.

João Oliveira
Associate

· Extensive private equity experience.

 

· Previously Investment Executive at Sherpa Capital.

 

· Previous experience at Ferrovial and Clearwater.

 

· Business Administration and Management Degree from Universidad de Navarra.

Íñigo Urbón

Director

· Extensive private equity experience.

 

· Previously Investment Associate at Sherpa Capital.

 

· Previous experience at H.I.G. Capital and McKinsey & Company.

 

· Business Administration Degree and MSc in Finance from ESADE Business School.

Jules de Meeûs
Associate

· Extensive private equity experience.

 

· Previously Investment Executive at Sherpa Capital.

 

· Previous experience as an Assistant Manager at Deloitte Corporate Finance, participating in M&A transactions, debt raising and restructuring transactions; and Garrigues, leading Spanish law firm.

 

· Double degree in Law and Business Management (taught in English) from Universidad Pablo de Olavide.

Ricardo Mellado
Vice President