Helix Ventures Partners FIZ (HVP), a fund managed by Private Equity Managers (PEManagers), supported by public financing administered by Krajowy Fundusz Kapitałowy S.A., has sold all of its shares in Grupa eBroker (Group), a leader of the market of performance marketing lead generation for financial institutions. Shares have also been sold by a different fund managed by PEManagers – MCI.TechVentures (MCI.TV) and Jacek Paciorek, one of the company’s founders. EBroker will follow the recently purchased Rankomat.pl into Interia.pl Group.
The previous owners have signed an agreement to sell their shares in Mediasoft Polska Sp. z o.o. to the company operating under the trade name of Grupa eBroker. The funds managed by PEManagers disposed of all the shares they held, which accounted for the majority of the company’s share capital. Jacek Paciorek, the company’s founder, has also sold his interest. The buyer is Bauer Media, a global media group which is very active in the Internet segment (owner of INTERIA.pl Group). The IRR for the funds managed by PEManagers amounted to over 60%.
“As a fund which is actively involved in creating the value of our portfolio companies, we have supported Grupa eBroker in implementing its strategy of strengthening its position as the online lead generation market leader. During our investment, alongside the founder, we deployed solutions which transformed Grupa eBroker not only into a leader of the sale of financial products and services, but also into a technologically advanced platform, which can provide the basis for a large-scale business,” said Łukasz Wierdak, Investment Director at Private Equity Managers S.A.
“Thanks to our cooperation with the fund, the Group has implemented many solutions to make its development more dynamic and ensure more effective content monetization, but it has also acquired an experienced industry investor to develop with at a dynamic pace,” said Jacek Paciorek, Founder and President of Grupa eBroker.
“Enhanced security and confidence in the Internet has made us more inclined to move more and more areas of our life – including finance management – online. We notice these trends and hence our decision to purchase Grupa eBroker and Rankomat.pl before that, which makes us a formidable player in the market of insurance and financial entities,” said Artur Potocki, President of the Management Board of Interia.pl Group.
Grupa eBroker is a market leader in performance marketing lead generation online. It is a valuable source of knowledge about financial products: besides creating and running almost 200 independent internet campaigns to acquire prospective customers for leading financial institutions, it also publishes the latest financial information, industry rankings, articles and essays written by industry experts. It places great emphasis on reliability, objectiveness, and credibility of the information it features. This enables users to select the best offer to fit their needs. HVP has invested in Grupa eBroker in 2010 and has been picking up development speed ever since. The group has currently got a big email address database of verified prospects interested in specific financial products and offers them the opportunity to choose from among more than 70 financial products on eBroker.pl.
“Grupa eBroker is an example of how you can brilliantly capitalize on the opportunities created by having a private equity/venture capital fund on-board. The equity it obtained throughout the investment period, and the support of our experts have allowed the company to streamline its business processes, establish closer cooperation with leading financial entities in the country and significantly improve its business model. As a result, the Group’s value has dynamically grown and our funds have reached an IRR of more than 60% with this investment,” says Fabian Bohdziul, manager of Helix Ventures Partners FIZ.
The high return on investment is not only a success of the HVP fund, but it also reflects one of the best investments completed with the support of Krajowy Fundusz Kapitałowy, which is a participant of the fund alongside MCI Group.
“Our mission consists in supporting innovative enterprises by investing in the best venture capital funds. We are happy that the capital we have entrusted to Helix Ventures Partners FIZ has translated into such dynamic development of Grupa eBroker, allowing it to acquire a valuable investor. We are hoping to see more projects implemented with the same degree of success,” said Jerzy Bartosiewicz, Krajowy Fundusz Kapitałowy.