Quest for Growth invests 2 million euro in Clear2Pay
Leuven, October 26, 2004 - On October 26 Quest for Growth announced the investment of 2,000,000 euro in Clear2Pay NV/SA, a software vendor specializing in next generation payment solutions for financial institutions. Other investors in this round, which closed at ? 6.1 million, are current investors Technology Venture Partners (Australia); Koceram (Belgium) and Clear2Pay's management.
Clear2Pay was founded in 2001 with a vision to become a payment solutions provider that enables financial institutions to provide superior electronic payment services integrated in the full financial value chain. In 2003, the capital was increased and Clear2Pay opened a Dutch office through the acquisition of MaxWare Benelux. In January 2004, Clear2Pay acquired Element NV (Ghent, Belgium). This was followed in May 2004 by another acquisition, Sienna Technologies (Sydney, Australia) which opened up the Australian and Asian-Pacific market. Over the last three years, Clear2Pay has evolved from a start-up to a worldwide player with about 120 employees and an impressive international client base.
René Avonts, Managing Director of Quest Management: "After yesterday's announcement of our investment in ProStrakan, this is Quest for Growth's second investment in an unquoted company since the start of this fiscal year. It brings our investment level in unquoted companies and venture funds to 25% of Quest for Growth's assets. We are very happy that our first investment in a private technology company since 2001 is with a high quality Belgian player."
Jürgen Ingels, co-founder and CFO of Clear2Pay adds: "We are very pleased that a significant investment partner like Quest for Growth has chosen to invest in a private company like Clear2Pay. The closing of this investment round will enable us to effectuate our growth strategy. Our previous acquisitions have not only allowed us to increase our international presence, but the subsequent integration also enabled us to accelerate the roll-out of our product strategy. At the international SWIFT conference Sibos, we recently launched two examples of this: our core payment processing engine PayPark Bank Payment Hub and the upgraded Corporate2Bank solution in reply to current customer demand for more flexible and transparent payment solutions."
Following the investment in ProStrakan Group Ltd, this is Quest for Growth's second investment into a private company in its current fiscal year 2004/2005, following earlier private equity investments into Futura Medical, Cyclacel and Plethora the previous year.
About Clear2Pay - www.clear2pay.com
Clear2Pay is an innovative e-finance company focused on delivering globally applicable solutions for secure, timely electronic payments. Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, the company's focus is to facilitate banks and financial organizations in their provision of electronic payments services. Clear2Pay's technology helps to reduce transactions processing costs, and to deliver new, compelling e-payment services in a competitive way. Clear2Pay's payment solutions offer organisations easy, branded ways for their customers to pay online: from complex trade-supporting business-to-business environments, through e-commerce applications, to retail payments and micro payments. Functions embrace payments origination, reporting, linkage with back-office processing systems, clearing, netting and settlement. Clients include global and major regional financial institutions such as ING, SEB Kort, LuottoKunta, VISA Europe, MasterCard, ANZ, National Australia Bank, ABN AMRO, Commonwealth Bank and Reserve Bank of Australia. Clear2Pay operates out of Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore and currently employs over 120 staff. More information is available on www.clear2pay.com
About QUEST FOR GROWTH
The Privak "QUEST FOR GROWTH" is a Pan-European investment company that invests in European technology-based growth companies in a broad range of industrial sectors such as information technology, semiconductors, telecommunications, software, electronics, biotechnology, medical devices, health-care and new materials. QUEST FOR GROWTH invests in quoted and unquoted companies.
QUEST FOR GROWTH is Belgium's first Privak and is an investment company traded on the continuous market of Euronext Brussels. The Belgian Government created the legal and fiscal framework for the Privak as a tax transparent investment vehicle specially tailored to the needs of private equity.
The Privak "QUEST FOR GROWTH" is managed by Quest Management NV.
More information is available on www.questforgrowth.com
This announcement is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the above companies in which QUEST FOR GROWTH has invested. This announcement appears solely as a matter of record.
The securities of the companies referred to in this document have not been registered with the United States Securities Act of 1933, and may not be offered or sold in the United States other than pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from registration.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainty. Although QUEST FOR GROWTH believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, no assurance can be given that such projections will be fulfilled. Any such forward-looking statement must be considered along with knowledge that actual events and results may vary materially from such predictions due to, among other things, political, economic or legal changes in the markets in which the companies in which QUEST FOR GROWTH invests do business or the stock markets in which these companies are listed. Readers are referred to the prospectus, which was issued at the time of the IPO that identifies the important risk factors proper to QUEST FOR GROWTH.
More information
QUEST MANAGEMENT NV
Mr. René Avonts, Managing Director
Tel.: +32 (0)16 28 41 28
Fax: +32 (0)16 28 41 29
QUEST MANAGEMENT NV
Katrin Geyskens, Investment Manager
Tel.: +32 (0)16 28 41 28
Fax: +32 (0)16 28 41 29
Clear2Pay was founded in 2001 with a vision to become a payment solutions provider that enables financial institutions to provide superior electronic payment services integrated in the full financial value chain. In 2003, the capital was increased and Clear2Pay opened a Dutch office through the acquisition of MaxWare Benelux. In January 2004, Clear2Pay acquired Element NV (Ghent, Belgium). This was followed in May 2004 by another acquisition, Sienna Technologies (Sydney, Australia) which opened up the Australian and Asian-Pacific market. Over the last three years, Clear2Pay has evolved from a start-up to a worldwide player with about 120 employees and an impressive international client base.
René Avonts, Managing Director of Quest Management: "After yesterday's announcement of our investment in ProStrakan, this is Quest for Growth's second investment in an unquoted company since the start of this fiscal year. It brings our investment level in unquoted companies and venture funds to 25% of Quest for Growth's assets. We are very happy that our first investment in a private technology company since 2001 is with a high quality Belgian player."
Jürgen Ingels, co-founder and CFO of Clear2Pay adds: "We are very pleased that a significant investment partner like Quest for Growth has chosen to invest in a private company like Clear2Pay. The closing of this investment round will enable us to effectuate our growth strategy. Our previous acquisitions have not only allowed us to increase our international presence, but the subsequent integration also enabled us to accelerate the roll-out of our product strategy. At the international SWIFT conference Sibos, we recently launched two examples of this: our core payment processing engine PayPark Bank Payment Hub and the upgraded Corporate2Bank solution in reply to current customer demand for more flexible and transparent payment solutions."
Following the investment in ProStrakan Group Ltd, this is Quest for Growth's second investment into a private company in its current fiscal year 2004/2005, following earlier private equity investments into Futura Medical, Cyclacel and Plethora the previous year.
About Clear2Pay - www.clear2pay.com
Clear2Pay is an innovative e-finance company focused on delivering globally applicable solutions for secure, timely electronic payments. Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, the company's focus is to facilitate banks and financial organizations in their provision of electronic payments services. Clear2Pay's technology helps to reduce transactions processing costs, and to deliver new, compelling e-payment services in a competitive way. Clear2Pay's payment solutions offer organisations easy, branded ways for their customers to pay online: from complex trade-supporting business-to-business environments, through e-commerce applications, to retail payments and micro payments. Functions embrace payments origination, reporting, linkage with back-office processing systems, clearing, netting and settlement. Clients include global and major regional financial institutions such as ING, SEB Kort, LuottoKunta, VISA Europe, MasterCard, ANZ, National Australia Bank, ABN AMRO, Commonwealth Bank and Reserve Bank of Australia. Clear2Pay operates out of Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore and currently employs over 120 staff. More information is available on www.clear2pay.com
About QUEST FOR GROWTH
The Privak "QUEST FOR GROWTH" is a Pan-European investment company that invests in European technology-based growth companies in a broad range of industrial sectors such as information technology, semiconductors, telecommunications, software, electronics, biotechnology, medical devices, health-care and new materials. QUEST FOR GROWTH invests in quoted and unquoted companies.
QUEST FOR GROWTH is Belgium's first Privak and is an investment company traded on the continuous market of Euronext Brussels. The Belgian Government created the legal and fiscal framework for the Privak as a tax transparent investment vehicle specially tailored to the needs of private equity.
The Privak "QUEST FOR GROWTH" is managed by Quest Management NV.
More information is available on www.questforgrowth.com
This announcement is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the above companies in which QUEST FOR GROWTH has invested. This announcement appears solely as a matter of record.
The securities of the companies referred to in this document have not been registered with the United States Securities Act of 1933, and may not be offered or sold in the United States other than pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from registration.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainty. Although QUEST FOR GROWTH believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, no assurance can be given that such projections will be fulfilled. Any such forward-looking statement must be considered along with knowledge that actual events and results may vary materially from such predictions due to, among other things, political, economic or legal changes in the markets in which the companies in which QUEST FOR GROWTH invests do business or the stock markets in which these companies are listed. Readers are referred to the prospectus, which was issued at the time of the IPO that identifies the important risk factors proper to QUEST FOR GROWTH.
More information
QUEST MANAGEMENT NV
Mr. René Avonts, Managing Director
Tel.: +32 (0)16 28 41 28
Fax: +32 (0)16 28 41 29
QUEST MANAGEMENT NV
Katrin Geyskens, Investment Manager
Tel.: +32 (0)16 28 41 28
Fax: +32 (0)16 28 41 29
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