DC Advisory advised on the sale of group.ONE to the Seventh Cinven Fund and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan

Background

• group.ONE is a leading European provider of online presence solutions, via mass hosting and software products, to c.1.6 million customers through brands including one.com, Hostnet, and WP Media
• The Sixth Cinven Fund acquired group.ONE (formerly one.com) in February 2019. Cinven built a strong relationship with the group’s founder, Jacob Nordestgaard Jensen, becoming the preferred partner for the next phase of the company’s growth
• Working closely with group.ONE’s management team, Cinven has driven a comprehensive value creation plan that has transformed the business from a traditional hosting and domain provider, into a one-stop-shop for online presence solutions for SMEs
• As a result of the above and other initiatives, group.ONE has performed very strongly under the Sixth Cinven Fund’s ownership; EBITDA has more than trebled over the past four years

Process 

• DC Advisory (DC), led by Alexander Luycx, was engaged by the shareholders of group.ONE on the sale of the business
• DC has held a strong relationship with group.ONE since 2014 when it advised the company on a minority investment by Accel-KKR, and subsequently the sale to Cinven in 2019
• In a short timeframe and against the current market backdrop, the DC team successfully provided group.ONE and its shareholders with full sell-side support including project management, coordination of diligence workstreams, detailed modelling and analysis, marketing materials, and advice on the fund to fund aspects of the transaction

Outcome

• In December 2022, Cinven announced the sale of group.ONE to the Seventh Cinven Fund and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
• This transaction took place concurrently with the combination of group.ONE and dogado group (dogado), and Jacob Nordestgaard Jensen, the founder of group.ONE, reinvesting in the combined group
• The combination of group.ONE and dogado will create a diversified pan-European champion in the web hosting and domains market, with one-stop-shop solutions to support SMEs with their online presence and success
• This transaction highlights DC’s trusted expertise to advise on landmark transactions with leading European technology companies on behalf of international private equity investors.  It also adds to the very strong sector credentials which DC has in the hosting sector globally

“It’s been a genuine pleasure for myself and the DC team to advise on this landmark transaction in the European hosting sector. Having first advised one.com in 2014 on a minority investment and its subsequent sale in 2019 to Cinven, I am thrilled to see group.ONE today being one of the greatest growth technology success stories in Europe. We are excited for the group and its shareholders as the group is uniquely positioned for future success.”