CapMan exits Global Intelligence Alliance Group Oy

CapMan Press Release - 4 September 2014 at 12:00 pm EEST

CapMan exits Global Intelligence Alliance Group Oy

Funds managed by CapMan have sold their holding in Global Intelligence Alliance Group Oy (GIA) to M-Brain Oy, which is a European-based information services company.

Founded in 1995, Global Intelligence Alliance (GIA) is an international strategic market intelligence and advisory group. GIA has operations on four continents and its 11 offices around the world employ around 145 people. The company is headquartered in Helsinki and its turnover in 2013 was approx. EUR 14.2 million.

"The company's competent management and personnel have done an amazing job in developing GIA into an international provider of world class market intelligence solutions. We are confident that GIA will continue its successful growth as part of a larger entity," says Vesa Walldén from CapMan Technology and responsible for the investment.

"When CapMan invested in GIA in 2007, our plan was to take our innovative software-enabled service concept to global growth markets. It's rewarding to see that we have succeeded in this. CapMan's support was essential in the implementation of our go-to-market strategy whereby we acquired several partner companies and set up greenfield offices in selected locations. Now it's time for GIA to move to the next stage of expansion together with our new owner M-Brain," says Markko Vaarnas, CEO and co-founder of Global Intelligence Alliance Group.

"Knowledge management and real-time market intelligence are a critical success factor in an ever-globalising business environment. Together, we can now offer a complete market intelligence solution ranging from consulting, information systems and intelligence best practices to intelligence services, content creation and software," says M-Brain's Executive Chairman Kim Nyberg.

Prior to the exit, funds managed by CapMan owned approximately 54.0% of Global Intelligence Alliance Group's shares. Following the transaction, the CapMan Equity VII A L.P. and CapMan Equity Sweden KB funds move closer to carry. The exit from GIA will not change CapMan's outlook estimate for 2014 given on 7 August 2014.

For further information, please contact:

Vesa Walldén, CapMan Technology, tel. +358 400 616 997

Markko Vaarnas, CEO and Co-founder, Global Intelligence Alliance Group, tel. +358 40 540 3390

Kim Nyberg, Executive Chairman, M-Brain, tel. +358 400 430 538

CapMan www.capman.com

CapMan Group is one of the leading private equity firms in the Nordic countries and Russia, with assets under management of approximately €3.1 billion. CapMan has five investment partnerships - CapMan Buyout, CapMan Russia, CapMan Credit, CapMan Public Market, and CapMan Real Estate - each of which has its own dedicated investment team and funds. Altogether, CapMan employs approx.100 people in Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, Moscow and Luxembourg. CapMan was established in 1989 and has been listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange since 2001.

Global Intelligence Alliance Group www.globalintelligence.com

Global Intelligence Alliance (GIA) is a strategic market intelligence and advisory group. GIA helps companies set up and develop market intelligence programs and provides strategic research, analysis and advisory for decision making.Founded in 1995, GIA operates on 4 continents and has 11 offices around the world.

M-Brain www.m-brain.com

M-Brain is a European based information services company with offices in seven countries. M-Brain offers media and business intelligence solutions, analytics and consultation services, as well as online intelligence tools and technology to bring insight into its clients' business environment.