Grisoft announces investment by Intel Capital and Enterprise Investors
Prague, Czech Republic – September 6th, 2005 – Grisoft, one of the leading providers of anti-virus security software, announced today that Enterprise Investors (EI), the largest private equity firm in Central and Eastern Europe, and Intel Capital, Intel Corporation's venture investment fund, have made a substantial investment in the company.
The $52 million investment in Grisoft by Enterprise Investors and Intel Capital will result in a new ownership structure of the company, with a majority stake being acquired from current owners Benson Oak Capital. As a result of this strategic transaction, the two new investors will own a 65% stake in Grisoft.
Founded in 1991, Grisoft is a leading global provider of security software solutions. Specializing in anti-virus solutions, Grisoft’s primary goal is to deliver to the market the most comprehensive and proactive protection available. Distributed globally through resellers and through the Internet, the AVG Anti-Virus and firewall product line supports all major operating systems and platforms, and is now used by more than 25 million users around the world. Grisoft has offices in Brno, Czech Republic and in the United States.
“Grisoft has grown rapidly from a dominant provider of anti-virus software in the Czech Republic to a major player globally; its AVG software, now including firewall, protects 25 million computers worldwide. The growing need for computer security, its increasing complexity, combined with a highly positive response of our users, testers and reviewers, leads us to anticipate the company will continue on the path to becoming the global leader within its market, commented Gabriel Eichler, Chairman of Grisoft and Founding Partner of Benson Oak. “We felt that it was the appropriate time to bring in value-added investors such as Enterprise Investors and Intel to help capture Grisoft’s future prospects.
“Grisoft is a fast growing company that has gained a solid global reputation in the anti-virus industry, with the growth of its customer base and product offerings,” said Rafal Bator, vice president, Enterprise Investors. “With EI’s experience in the IT sector as well as our business and strategic know-how, augmented by Intel Capital’s involvement, we believe we will be able to consolidate and further elevate Grisoft’s position as one of the leading providers of computing protection for the SME marketplace.”
“By acquiring shares in Grisoft, Intel Capital is supporting the development of anti-virus software development and deployment around the globe,” said Intel Capital President Arvind Sodhani. “Under the terms of the strategic cooperation agreement with Grisoft, Intel will work to help Grisoft improve security on computing platforms for small businesses and consumers.”
Jefferies Broadview, a division of Jefferies International Limited, acted as advisor to Grisoft.
Media Contacts
Grisoft: Tereza Kyselakova, +420-549524020,
[email protected],
David Harrower, +420 602 614 360,
[email protected]
Enterprise Investors: Iwona Drabot, Tel: +48 22 458 85 00 e-mail:
[email protected]
Intel: Pavel Svoboda, Tel: +420 222 090 304 (1), e-mail:
[email protected]
For more information about Grisoft, visit
www.grisoft.com.
About Enterprise Investors
Enterprise Investors is the largest and oldest private equity firm in Central and Eastern Europe, managing since 1990 investment funds with capital exceeding US$1.1 billion. The funds managed by EI have invested more than US$950 million in 100 companies in Poland and other CEE countries and have exited 76 investments to date at attractive rates of return. EI has extended experience with IT and software companies, with US$80 million invested in 12 IT companies. EI has the region’s largest and most experienced team of 30 investment professionals, in three offices in Warsaw, Bucharest and New York. For more information, visit
www.ei.com.pl
About Intel Capital
Intel Capital, Intel’s venture investment program, focuses on making minority equity investments to grow the Internet economy in support of Intel’s strategic interests. Intel Capital invests in hardware, software and services companies in several market segments, including computing, networking, and wireless communications. Intel Capital has invested more than US$4 billion in approximately 1,000 companies in more than 30 countries since 1991. Since its inception, about 160 portfolio companies have been acquired by other companies and another 150 have gone public on various exchanges around the world. Intel Capital employs investment managers in about 25 countries. Last year alone, Intel Capital invested more than US$130 million in about 110 deals with approximately 40 percent of its investments made outside the United States. For more information, visit
www.intel.com/capital.
About Benson Oak Capital
Benson Oak Capital is the private equity arm of Benson Oak, an investment banking firm founded in 1991 with its primary activities in the Czech and Slovak Republics. Benson Oak assists clients in raising debt and equity capital and in executing mergers and acquisitions. The firm has advised on more than 75 transactions amounting to in excess of EUR 6 billion. Benson Oak Capital manages investment funds targeting mid-market development and buyout capital transactions in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. For more information, visit
www.bensonoak.com.
