Cipio exits French tech company

Direct secondaries firm Cipio Partners has sold French technology company Ipanema Technologies, according to a statement.

Ipanema is headquartered in Fontenay-aux-Roses, France and provides network optimisation for midsize companies. It was sold to Infrovista, another French technology company that is backed by US mid-market private equity firm Thoma Bravo.

“The deal illustrates perfectly how Cipio Partners allows fast–growing European technology firms to avoid premature exits and grow into significant businesses,” Cipio managing partner Roland Dennert said in the statement.

Cipio initially invested in Ipanema in 2004, as part of a portfolio of 15 assets it acquired from T-Venture Holding, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom. Since then the firm has acquired additional stakes in Ipanema, building its position up to 40 percent.

“We have worked closely with management on strategy and operational improvements to achieve a 9-fold revenue growth and an attractive sale of the business,” Dennert said.

Cipio’s last exit was the sale of tissue diagnostics company Definiens AG to pharmaceuticals company AstraZeneca in late 2014.

Cipio is based in Munich and Luxembourg and focuses on making direct secondaries investments in growth business in Europe, Israel and North America, according to its website. Cipio typically invests between €2 million and €6 million in minority stakes of between 10 percent and 35 percent. Targeted companies have more than €10 million in revenue.