Kestrel completes first Take Private deal

We are delighted to announce the Take Private of IQGeo Group plc, backed by KKR and Kestrel.

IQGeo is a fast-growing developer of geospatial productivity and collaboration software for telecoms and utility network operators across the world. The Take Private will enable IQGeo to significantly increase investment in the business to capitalise on its long-term growth potential, scale its platform globally and drive sustainable long-term value.

This deal confirms Kestrel’s capability to use its substantial shareholdings in publicly quoted companies to determine their future ownership and remain invested when public companies are taken private.

Securing a successful outcome

As IQGeo’s largest shareholder, Kestrel’s support for the Take Private was critical to the successful outcome of the £333m transaction. We will retain a c.25% holding in IQGeo and Max Royde, Kestrel’s CEO, remains a Board member.  Together with KKR and the IQGeo management team, we are looking forward to IQGeo’s next phase of growth.

“As IQGeo’s largest shareholder over more than eight years, and a Board member, we’ve been instrumental in shaping the company into a highly successful business. It was clear to us that a Take Private would be the best outcome for all IQGeo’s stakeholders. We worked closely with the IQGeo Board and KKR to secure a fair offer price and ensured that all shareholders had the option to roll into the private entity,” explains Max Royde, CEO of Kestrel.

Over the past five years, IQGeo’s share price has increased by more than 900% and its revenues have grown from approximately £10m in 2018 to over £50m forecast for 2024.

“Kestrel has been a key supporter to IQGeo since I joined the business in 2016 and I’m very pleased that they will remain invested in the company alongside our new majority owner KKR,” says Richard Petti, CEO of IQGeo.

Scaling British tech companies

This first Take Private transaction is the natural evolution of Kestrel’s long-term activist strategy in UK small caps where we:

• build major stakes in high-quality, but under-appreciated UK technology companies; and

• work strategically with management over the long term to deliver successful outcomes.

Private ownership can sometimes provide a better platform for companies to scale their businesses and UK quoted market valuations have recently generated significant private equity interest. With our substantial shareholdings in listed high-growth tech companies, we can significantly influence the outcome of strategic Board-level discussions around being listed or private.

Our ‘hybrid capability’ bridges public and private markets and allows us to retain or increase our ownership stakes in any ensuing Take Private transactions. We can determine the best ownership structure for our portfolio companies and ultimately focus on our underlying purpose: scaling leading British tech companies to generate outsized returns for investors.