REG - Apax Global Alpha Ld - Apax Funds support WGSN in the acquisition of IWSR

Apax Global AlphaAnnouncement

06/06/2025 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250606:nRSF6950La&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 6950L  Apax Global Alpha Limited  06 June 2025

Apax Funds to support WGSN in the acquisition of IWSR

Apax Global Alpha Limited ("AGA"), the closed-ended investment company
providing access to the Apax Private Equity Funds, today announces that it
expects to invest an additional c.€3m indirectly in WGSN following WGSN's
acquisition of IWSR.

 

On 5 June 2025, WGSN, an Apax XI Fund ("Apax XI") portfolio company in which
AGA is a limited partner, announced that it has acquired IWSR, a global leader
in data, analytics, and insights for the beverage alcohol industry.

 

WGSN is a leading consumer trend forecaster, providing global trend insights
across a wide range of industries including fashion, beauty, food & drink,
interiors, and consumer technology. Apax XI first invested in WGSN in 2024 and
saw the opportunity to drive value creation by expanding into new products,
verticals, and customer bases through M&A.

 

IWSR is a leading global provider of data and insights for the alcoholic
beverage market. It offers proprietary data covering more than 160 countries,
built from over 40 years of supplier-contributed information. IWSR presented a
compelling opportunity to expand WGSN's position in the beverage space and the
move supports WGSN's strategy to expand its market-leading trend forecasting
capabilities, AI, data analytics, and insights across a broad range of
consumer industries.

 

Including this acquisition, AGA has invested a total of approximately €24.7m
in WGSN on a look-through basis. Note that AGA's investment is calculated
based on the look-through positions of Apax XI's overall investment in WGSN
and is translated based on the latest applicable exchange rates at the time of
each investment(1). AGA has a commitment of c.$700m to Apax XI(2).

 

AGA, whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange, provides investors
with access to a portfolio of private equity funds advised by Apax as well as
a smaller portfolio of debt instruments.

 

For more information about the transaction, please visit:
https://www.apax.com/news/press-releases/
(https://www.apax.com/news/press-releases/)

END

Contact details

 Investor relations                                     Joint Brokers

 Investor Relations - AGA                               Jefferies International Limited

 Lorraine Rees / Aditya Jhaveri                         Gaudi Le Roux

 T: +44 (0) 207 872 6364                                T: +44 (0)20 7548 4060

 E: investor.relations@apaxglobalalpha.com              E: gleroux@jefferies.com (mailto:gleroux@jefferies.com)
 (mailto:investor.relations@apaxglobalalpha.com)

                             Investec Bank plc

                             David Yovichic

                             T: +44 (0)20 7597 4952

                             E: david.yovichic@investec.com (mailto:david.yovichic@investec.com)

 

 

 

Footnotes

 1.  Based on Bloomberg closing EUR/USD FX rate on 4 June 2025 of 1.1417 and 30
     January 2024 of 1.085.
 2.  AGA's commitment in Apax XI of c.$700m represents a commitment of $476.5m in
     the USD tranche and €198.4m in the euro tranche.

Notes

 

 1.  Note that references in this announcement to Apax Global Alpha Limited have
     been abbreviated to "AGA" or "the Company". References to Apax Partners LLP
     have been abbreviated to "Apax" or "the Investment Adviser"
 2.  Please be advised that this announcement may contain inside information as
     stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) NO. 596/2014 ("MAR")
 3.  This announcement is not for release, publication or distribution, directly or
     indirectly, in whole or in part, into or within the United States or to "US
     persons" (as defined in Regulation S under the United States Securities Act of
     1933, as amended (the "Securities Act")) or into or within Australia, Canada,
     South Africa or Japan. Recipients of this announcement in jurisdictions
     outside the UK should inform themselves about and observe any applicable legal
     requirements in their jurisdictions. In particular, the distribution of the
     announcement may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions
 4.  The information presented herein is not an offer for sale within the United
     States of any equity shares or other securities of Apax Global Alpha Limited
     ("AGA"). AGA has not been and will not be registered under the US Investment
     Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "Investment Company Act"). In addition,
     AGA's shares (the "Shares") have not been and will not be registered under the
     Securities Act or any other applicable law of the United States. Consequently,
     the Shares may not be offered or sold or otherwise transferred within the
     United States, or to, or for the account or benefit of, US Persons, except
     pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities
     Act and under circumstances which will not require AGA to register under the
     Investment Company Act. No public offering of the Shares is being made in the
     United States
 5.  This announcement may include forward-looking statements. The words "expect",
     "anticipate", "intends", "plan", "estimate", "aim", "forecast", "project" and
     similar expressions (or their negative) identify certain of these
     forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are statements
     regarding AGA's intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among
     other things, AGA's results of operations, financial condition, liquidity,
     prospects, growth and strategies. The forward-looking statements in this
     presentation are based on numerous assumptions regarding AGA's present and
     future business strategies and the environment in which AGA will operate in
     the future. Forward-looking statements involve inherent known and unknown
     risks, uncertainties and contingencies because they relate to events and
     depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future and may cause
     the actual results, performance or achievements of AGA to be materially
     different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements.
     Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond AGA's
     ability to control or estimate precisely, such as future market conditions,
     currency fluctuations, the behaviour of other market participants, the actions
     of regulators and other factors such as AGA's ability to continue to obtain
     financing to meet its liquidity needs, changes in the political, social and
     regulatory framework in which AGA operates or in economic or technological
     trends or conditions. Past performance should not be taken as an indication or
     guarantee of future results, and no representation or warranty, express or
     implied, is made regarding future performance. AGA expressly disclaims any
     obligation or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to these
     forward-looking statements to reflect any change in AGA's expectations with
     regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which
     any statement is based after the date of this announcement, or to update or to
     keep current any other information contained in this announcement.
     Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking
     statements, which speak only as of the date of this announcement.

 

 

About Apax Global Alpha Limited

 

AGA is a Guernsey registered closed-ended investment company listed on the
London Stock Exchange. It is regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services
Commission.

 

AGA's objective is to provide shareholders with capital appreciation from its
investment portfolio and regular dividends. The Company is targeting an
annualised Total Return, across economic cycles, of 12-15% (net of fees and
expenses).

 

The Company makes Private Equity investments in Apax Funds, and has a
portfolio of primarily debt investments, derived from the insights gained via
Apax's Private Equity activities.

 

Further information regarding the Company and its publications are available
on the Company's website at www.apaxglobalalpha.com
(http://www.apaxglobalalpha.com) .

 

 

About Apax

 

Apax Partners LLP ("Apax") is a leading global private equity advisory firm.
For over 50 years, Apax has worked to inspire growth and ideas that transform
businesses. The firm has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments
of nearly $80 billion. The Apax Funds invest in companies across three global
sectors of Tech, Services, and Internet/Consumer. These funds provide
long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. For
further information about Apax, please visit www.apax.com
(http://www.apax.com/) .

 

Apax is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  ACQFAMRTMTMMBJA