Horizon Capital exits Sapphire generating a 5.0x return
Horizon Capital, the private equity investor specialising in technology and business service buy & builds, announces the sale of portfolio company Sapphire to NTT DATA Business Solutions AG, a group company of NTT DATA, generating a return of 5.0x invested capital and 50% IRR.
Headquartered in London, Sapphire is a leading digital operating transformation provider to customers in the US and UK through its partnerships with SAP, ServiceNow, Infor SunSystems, HxGN and AWS. With Horizon Capital as its investment partner, Sapphire has made four acquisitions, significantly enhancing its international offering and client proposition, and enabling the business to grow revenues from £38m to over £75m and employees from 250 to over 420 in under 4 years.
”We are so proud to have played a part in Sapphire’s growth and to have backed this strategy to build the leading business in its niche. Working with Vince and the whole team at Sapphire has been a true partnership founded on mutual trust and ambition, and we’re delighted to have achieved our shared vision of Sapphire’s potential.
Luke KingstonManaging Partner - Horizon Capital
”We enjoyed a shared vision with Horizon and their support has enabled us to expand the solutions we offer to our clients, grow the team and create significant value for all stakeholders. Sapphire has become a true leader in providing digital operations software and services to its global customers and the entire leadership team and I are energised by the prospects of becoming part of the NTT/NTT DATA group.
Vince De LucaCEO - Sapphire
The sale of Sapphire demonstrates Horizon Capital’s ability to support buyouts of high- growth, niche market leaders and work in partnership with management teams through its buy & build model to build resilient, growing businesses with significant breakout potential.
Sapphire shareholders were advised by Arma Partners (corporate adviser), CMS (legal), and Deloitte (financial and tax).
