Verdane makes final exit from fourth fund

The sale of Banqsoft is the last of 96 exits from the portfolio the firm bought from the Norwegian government in 2003.

Verdane Capital Advisors, the Norwegian private equity and secondaries directs firm, has made its last exit from a large portfolio of investments it purchased from the Norwegian government over a decade ago.

The Oslo-based firm recently announced it had sold Banqsoft AS, a Norwegian financial software company, to Danish IT firm KMD, marking the final exit in a portfolio of 96 acquisitions it acquired from SND Invest in 2003. SND Invest was the Norwegian government’s investment arm, which it sold to the firm for NOK 547 million ($67.3 million; €61 million).

The sale returned an almost 6x multiple for the firm and leaves no remaining investments in Verdane Capital IV, according to Verdane’s chief investment officer, Bjarne Lie. The fund is due to be fully liquidated in the autumn.

The firm declined to say how much Banqsoft was sold for.

“It has been a long hold, but worth it because the LPs are very happy with the outcome,” said Frida Einarson, director of investor relations at the firm.

Verdane Capital, which changed its name in 2006, was Norway’s first venture capital firm when it was established as Four Seasons Venture in 1985.

Verdane Capital IV, formerly Four Seasons Venture IV, is a NOK 593 million 2003-vintage vehicle that was raised in order to buy the assets from SND Invest. It was Verdane’s first secondaries direct fund and the firm has since raised four dedicated secondaries vehicles including 23 portfolio transactions, according to Lie.

The firm closed its latest fund, Verdane Capital VIII, in June 2014 after 12 months of fundraising at SEK 2 billion ($232.5 million; €210.7 million), according to PEI’s Research and Analytics division.

Verdane Capital manages around €700 million and provides growth capital to Nordic companies in IT, energy and advanced industrial industries, according to its website.