AnaCap and GED agree transaction for the sale and acquisition of GTT
Gestión Tributaria Territorial, SA (“GTT”) and its shareholders GED Capital (“GED”), an independent private equity group specialised in the Spanish lower mid- market, and Oquendo Capital, a firm that specialises in flexible capital and private debt for Spanish lower mid-market companies, have today reached an agreement on the terms of a sale to AnaCap Financial Partners (“AnaCap”), a leading specialist European financial services private equity and credit firm and active investor across Europe, for the acquisition of GTT, subject to regulatory approval.
The existing management structure will remain in place as key long-term shareholders, partnering with AnaCap through GTT’s next phase of growth. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
GTT is the market leader in the design and development of software driving the management of tax collection for both local and regional public administrations across Spain. The company was founded in 1998 by Fernando Plaza, with headquarters in Alicante, and looks to modernise public administration processes through technological innovation and digital transformation. The company partners with more than 3,300 institutions throughout Spain and LatAm, providing them with leading technological, organisational and management support solutions, tailored to their specific requirements.
GED acquired a majority stake in GTT in 2017 with the aim of supporting the organic and inorganic growth of the company, both in Spain and internationally. Oquendo Capital, a firm that specialises in flexible capital and private debt for Spanish lower mid-market companies, invested alongside GED as a minority co-investor. The management team of GTT held the remaining shares in the company.
The deal between GED Capital and AnaCap was negotiated almost entirely remotely by all parties during the current Covid-19 pandemic and was executed despite the increased logistical hurdles. GTT represents AnaCap’s first proprietary deal in Spain following a recent, strong track record of activity across Europe.
AnaCap will deploy its expertise in tech-enabled businesses and operational engagement to support management’s ambition to grow GTT’s market share into Europe and wider geographical markets. The growth of the business will be through organic expansion as well as identifying attractive bolt-on acquisition opportunities.
Nassim Cherchali, Managing Director at AnaCap, commented: “The acquisition of GTT represents AnaCap’s first move into the Spanish market. Its highly impressive product offering and robust software platform was a significant catalyst for the pursuit of this investment and we expect it will grow significantly from its initial platform. GTT and its management team are widely recognised in Spain as the leading software provider in the tax collaboration space and we are very excited to apply our data-driven investment approach to its already strong technological capabilities. We look forward to working alongside the existing, highly impressive management structure to further grow the business with a strong pipeline of bolt-on opportunities available to drive inorganic growth and our internationalisation strategy during the remainder of 2020 and beyond.”
Fernando Plaza, CEO and founder of GTT, commented: “I am delighted to see the business begin a new chapter under the guidance of such a successful organisation like AnaCap. GTT is now in a powerful position to grow both organically and via M&A activity across Spain and into Europe.”
Carlos Rico, deputy CEO of GTT, commented: “We are very excited to have attracted a leading European investor like AnaCap to support us with capital, operational expertise and innovation on the next phase of our vibrant growth trajectory. With its rich understanding of financial services and track record of technology implementation, we feel this is a big moment for GTT. In my role as deputy CEO, I’m looking forward to working with their fantastic team to further cement our market leading position in the coming years.”
Enrique Centelles Satrústegui, Private Equity Managing Partner at GED Capital, commented: “We are very satisfied about GTT’s evolution during our holding period in the company, increasing significantly its EBITDA both organically and inorganically after, doubling its software business, which is its main growth driver, and internationalising the company. All these factors combined together made the company beat its original 5 years business plan. We are happy to see that the company has attracted the interest from foreign investors of the quality of AnaCap and its blue chip LPs. Without any doubt AnaCap is the right partner for GTT to expand its software and business model into other geographies where the European investor has a strong presence.”
Daniel Herrero, Founding Partner at Oquendo Capital, added: “We are delighted to have accompanied GED and GTT’s management team through this investment, during which the company has consolidated its leading position as the reference provider of tax management software in Spain. We are certain that AnaCap will leverage on its strong capabilities in technology operations and innovation to further develop GTT’s platform in this new phase”.
AZ Capital (financial) and Cuatrecasas (legal) acted as advisors for the buyer.
The sellers were advised by Rothschild (financial), KPMG (due diligence), Arthur D. Little (commercial DD) and King & Wood Mallesons (legal).