New company in Avallon MBO FUND II investment portfolio

Private equity fund Avallon MBO FUND from Lodz, specialising in management buyout transactions on the Polish market, awarded in June this year as the 2012 Best Fund is implementing its second transaction purchasing 100% shares of Otwarty Rynek Elektroniczny SA from Orange Polska.

On 09th July 2013 Avallon signed a contract to purchase Otwarty Rynek Elektroniczny SA shares. The transaction was carried out in cooperation with managers managing the company. The decision to sell ORE has been made by Orange Polska as a further step in implementing the strategic plan and focusing on the core activity of the Group.

Otwarty Rynek Elektroniczny company is a leader on the Polish market in implementing information technologies as a part of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) aiming at facilitating management processes within purchases and sale. The basic area of services rendered by the Company includes consulting in purchase processes management in the company (from support in developing a purchase strategy to a review of purchase contracts and suppliers’ audit) as well as monitoring in implementing the company’s original product which is a MarketPlanet purchasing platform.

MarketPlanet platform consists of nine extensive modules: Purchase planning, Selecting suppliers, eRFX-electronic invoice, Electronic auctions, Contracts management, Operational purchases, Reporting and two administrative ones. Each time, implementing individual elements of the Platform is adapted to individual business and technical requirements of the Company clients.

Avallon Fund will actively support development plans of the company Otwarty Rynek Elektroniczny including extending cooperation with leading world suppliers of technological solutions in the area of e-procurement, expanding activity to international markets as well as a dynamic development of MarketPlanet portal.

Michał Zawisza, Partner Avallon
“This has been our second transaction since setting up the second fund – Avallon MBO FUND II, dedicated to realization of investments with managers. The company has three assets which we have noticed as a basis for creating its value: a growth market area – outsourcing, precise operation strategy for the next years and a very good, involved and unified Managerial Group which has been building this company together for over 7 years.
The restructuring area of big holdings, through sale of subsidiaries, not connected with the core operating activity is one of the most frequent areas of boy-out transactions. We hope that we will be able to carry out 2-3 more transactions in this area”.

Piotr Matysik, President of the Board of Directors of Otwarty Rynek Elektroniczny SA

“We are very happy about finalizing the purchase transaction of the company Otwarty Rynek Elektroniczny SA by Avallon fund. With our offer we have been on a very attractive market segment and have built the position of the leader successfully. Partnership with the Fund will allow us to carry out further steps of our strategy in the area of strengthening competence and developing tools supporting purchase to pay (P2P) processes.”

Otwarty Rynek Elektroniczny SA – the company has been operating since 2001. Its activity is based on providing e-auctions services as a part of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). ORE SA has a status of OJS eSender allowing participating in European public tenders. Since 2012 it has been a partner of a leading European supplier of purchase systems software – Ivalua.

Avallon MBO FUND II – Otwarty Rynek Elektroniczny SA has been the second investment of Avallon MBO FUND II, specializing in transactions carried out together with managers, established in December 2012. Avallon is a pioneer on the managerial buyouts market in Poland and has been operating in this area since 2001. The fund’s investors are international financial institutions, for example: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as well as funds managed by a Swiss company Akina Partners. The Fund invests in various businesses, mainly in companies with turnover from PLN 50 to 250 million.

In June this year Avallon MBO FUND was awarded as the 2012 Best Fund in the Medium and Small Fund category – fund size below EUR 200 million.