ABGSC acted as sole financial advisor to Mercell in connection with the acquisition of Visma Commerce, and as joint bookrunner in the equity and bond financing

On 10 December 2020, Mercell (or the “Company”) announced that it had completed the acquisition of Visma Commerce for an enterprise value of SEK 2,000 million. Visma Commerce is the Swedish market leading provider of public procurement information and monitoring software. The company was founded in 1999 and has been a part of Visma since 2010. The acquisition represents a major step forward in Mercell’s strategy to become the leading European provider of public e-tendering and e-procurement software.
The acquisition was financed through a share issue of NOK 1,300 million that was fully underwritten by a consortium consisting primarily of large existing shareholders in the Company, as well as a fully underwritten senior secured bond issue of SEK 1,100 million. In addition to financing the acquisition, the bond issue also refinanced the Company’s existing debt at considerably improved terms.
The combined businesses will form one of the leading providers of public e-tendering solutions in Europe with annual recurring revenues (ARR) of NOK 534 million as of third quarter of 2020 and adjusted pro forma EBITDA of NOK 154 million for the last twelve months up to and including the third quarter of 2020.
In June, ABGSC acted as joint global coordinator in the listing of Mercell on Euronext growth, providing invaluable access to the capital markets which allowed Mercell to pursue the acquisition.