Four M&A Deals in One Year with Euvic Group. How Did We Do It?

Content List

Stepan Dzhus

25.04.2024

7 Min Read

In 2023, we brought a new IT giant to the Ukrainian market and closed 4 low-middle market deals. What was happening during this time? War. Economic instability. Dozens of businesses ceasing to exist. Is it possible for IT companies to attract investments, find reliable partners, and even enter new markets in such conditions? In 2023, the M&A team, Mergewave Capital, proved that it's possible. How did we do it? Read on!

Client

Euvic Group – A Polish IT consortium operating for 18 years. The company’s global staff consists of approximately 6000 employees. Euvic comprises over 30 IT companies with a combined turnover of over 1 billion PLN+ ($230 million). Based in Poland, it has business centers in the USA, UK, Scandinavia, the DACH region, and the UAE (Dubai). The company has implemented over 6700 projects in industries such as energy, finance, logistics, media, etc.

Goals and Challenges

Target

In 2022, in response to a request from an IT company exploring sale possibilities, we contacted Euvic Group — a potential buyer for a controlling stake of shares. Contact was established thanks to the personal network of one of our co-founders. Subsequently, the search for the perfect candidate from the selling side began, utilizing a broad network and Mergewave Capital’s experience in the field to identify suitable partners.

Results

Deal with Exoft

Exoft has been operating in the market since 2013 and specializes in developing desktop, web, and mobile software using technologies such as C#, .NET MVC Web API, ASP.NET, WPF, and WCF. The company’s staff consists of over 80 developers. The company operates in over two dozen foreign markets.

Deal with Artkai

Artkai has been operating in the market since 2014 and specializes in developing applications for FinTech, PropTech, MarTech industries and digitisation for SMB/SME. Its main clients are companies from the USA and Europe. The company’s headquarters are located in Ukraine, with representations also in Belgium, Switzerland, the USA, and the UK.

Deal with 7Devs

7Devs was founded in Kharkiv in 2016 and specializes in web and mobile solution development. The company’s staff consists of about 50 employees, and it works with clients from the USA, Canada, and Europe.

Strategic plans of Euvic Group

The goal of Euvic Group was to start expanding into the Ukrainian IT market by acquiring companies that would expand the client and technological base of the Polish IT giant.

Unlike companies practising aggressive acquisitions, Euvic Group was interested in targeted projects retaining their name, branding, and autonomy while being part of the consortium structure. Euvic didn’t seek advantages in cheap valuations and conducted all acquisitions at the highest EBITDA multiples typical for the sector before the war and recession. This was an important moment for us — intermediaries between Ukrainian companies trying to survive and find new growth opportunities — as well as for our direct client.

Wojciech Wolny, Chairman of the Board of Euvic SA:

Ukrainian IT business remains resilient — it continues to provide high-quality services and has an exceptional ability to establish connections with international clients. This is extremely impressive and inspiring for the entire community of theGoodPeople, jointly created by the founders, managers, and employees of Euvic Group. We believe that in the next 2-3 years, we will be able to create a similar ecosystem in Ukraine as we have in Poland. A group of companies working together and sharing their opportunities.

Euvic has already successfully applied the consortium model with Polish projects. This business model has proven its effectiveness in over 40 cases. These investments were built not only on financial calculations but also on the vision of mutual growth potential. Now Euvic is taking the first steps to create a similar ecosystem in Ukraine. Most of these partnerships are long-term because it’s impossible to build a long-term strategic partnership based on short-term gain. Thus, it’s a new significant player in the Ukrainian IT market.

Targeted Company Search Process

The process of searching for targeted companies took place from October 2022 to February 2023. During this period, over 30 potential target companies were processed through the personal network of co-founders and C- and D-level employees of the company. The lead generation department brought in over 80% of leads through LinkedIn.

How We Evaluated Targeted Companies

The valuation range for small to medium-sized outsourcing companies (up to 300 technical specialists) in Ukraine is 4-6x EBITDA.

As always, the main factors influencing the valuation are the nature of the company's clients:

Overall, an outsourcing company in Ukraine can be analysed by the following key metrics:

Sourcing

Sourcing and scouting Ukrainian IT companies through our own network and outreach communication through social networks, email, and other communication channels.

Within our sourcing approach, we systematically analyse the market and identify potential target companies for acquisition or merger. Using a strategic approach, we conducted in-depth market research and studied key players to find optimal growth opportunities.

Our team actively used various sources of information, including:

Our goal was to build long-term partnerships with potential target companies and identify mutually beneficial cooperation opportunities.

Motivation of Ukrainian IT Companies to Sign Agreements

In addition to the factor mentioned above of having a strategic partner’s “umbrella”, such M&A deals will help companies grow and increase their capitalization, which becomes especially relevant in challenging market conditions.

Yegor Shakala, Co-founder of Artkai:

“For us, it’s important to become part of a larger company that has successfully invested in and developed dozens of service companies. So, by joining forces now, growth will be easier. Of course, we wouldn’t choose an investor who doesn’t offer terms that align with our goals. We wanted to find a strategic investor, not just money. We had several deal options over the past two years, but only Euvic offered the cooperation elements that are essential to us. Firstly, it’s sales offices in key locations. Secondly, cultural match. Thirdly, the opportunity to become part of the holding’s cluster in Ukraine. Euvic has very ambitious goals and management, regardless of the situation in the world. This has inspired all partners.

Konstantin Chekanov, Founder of Artkai:

After numerous online and offline meetings, many pitch decks, and discussions, we saw the potential and the same synergy that everyone wants to achieve. Defining synergy with Euvic was in our ambitions, the size of our company, and the combination of services in the portfolio. In general, every dollar brought into the country during the war is new jobs, donations, and support for our people here. Considering this factor, attracting such foreign investments by Ukrainian companies is highly relevant.

Summary

Within this cooperation, we helped Euvic Group acquire majority stakes in four Ukrainian IT companies. The total value of the deals exceeds $5 million, with a staff of over 300 specialists. In addition to the successful deal with Euvic, what’s the additional value of this case? Every dollar brought into the country during these challenging times is new development opportunities, it’s assistance in creating new jobs and supporting Ukrainian companies. We also allocated 1% of the transaction amount in one of the deals to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine through the “Come Back Alive” Foundation.

IT M&A

Acquiring

Euvic

Ukraine

Europe

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