Paris (France), January 12nd 2021
Apax announces the sale of its participation in Squad, owned in its portfolio since 2017.
Squad welcomes Abénex into its capital, alongside founders Eric Guillerm and Marc Brua and 15 partner-executives.
Squad is a consultancy with expertise in cybersecurity and DevOps. Leveraging a network of Apax agencies in France and one in Australia, Squad has distinguished itself through the robust organic growth it has generated since it was founded in 2011.
The transaction reorganises the ownership structure, confirming the departure of Apax Partners Development, while ensuring the continuity of the management team and bringing new partners into the capital. The transaction also harnesses significant financial resources that will support Squad’s robust organic growth and enable it to undertake acquisitions.
“We are very pleased to have partnered with Apax Partners Development over the past few years, and the support we have received from Isabelle Hermetet and her team has been invaluable. We are looking forward to continuing to develop Squad with Abénex”
added Marc Brua, CEO and co-founder of Squad.
“It has been a pleasure for us to accompany Squad and its two founders since 2017. The company has performed exceptionally well, and it has been particularly rewarding to be part of the adventure”, said Isabelle Hermetet and Berenger Mistral, respectively Partner and Director at Apax Partners Development.
“We were very favourably impressed by Squad’s highly-skilled, agile management team. The group has successfully integrated the industry’s best practices and knows how to put its specific expertise to good use. Squad is a sound company, well positioned to capture the strong growth of the cybersecurity market”, said Olivier Moatti, Managing Partner at Abénex.
About Squad
Founded in 2011, Squad is a European DevSecOps pure player. With 550 Cybersecurity & DevOps experts and a turnover of 53 million euros in 2020, the group provides leading expertise to ensure protection against the most complex cyber threats.
Squad provides its know-how to major international groups through 7 offices in France (Paris, Lyon, Aix-en-Provence, Sophia-Antipolis, Nantes and Rennes) and 1 office in Australia (Adelaide).
The group was awarded the PASSI qualification from the French National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI), enabling its experts to conduct security audits for critical infrastructure: this demonstrates the high technical standards of Squad’s teams and their commitment to create a secured cyber space.
www.squad.fr
About Apax
Apax is a leading European private equity firm based in Paris. With more than 45 years of experience, Apax provides long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. Funds managed and advised by Apax exceed €4 billion. These funds invest in fast-growing, middle-market companies across four sectors of specialisation: Tech & Telecom, Consumer, Healthcare and Services.
Paris-headquartered Apax SAS (www.apax.fr) and London-headquartered Apax LLP (www.apax.com) have a shared history but are separate, independent private equity firms.
Press contacts
Apax
Lauren Bardet
Communication director
+ 33 6 16 32 72 82
lauren.bardet@seven2.eu
Apax team: Isabelle Hermetet and Bérenger Mistral
Squad and Apax’s advisers
Investment bank: Cambon Partners (David Salabi, Jonathan Journo, Florian Grison)
Legal: PGA (Suzanne De Carvalho, Raphaël Piotraut, Arnaud Viard)
