Vaaka Partners Builds the Next Phase of International Expansion for Solita: the Apax Digital Fund acquires the majority of Solita

Finnish private equity investor Vaaka Partners sells the data driven digital transformation company Solita to the Apax Digital Fund, a growth equity fund advised by global private equity advisory firm Apax Partners. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Under Vaaka Partners’ ownership, Solita’s revenue has nearly tripled. The growth has been mainly organic, complemented with two strategic acquisitions to strengthen its digital service offering. In 2016, Solita acquired the public sector consultant HMV Group. Last year, Solita acquired Palmu, the most respected service design agency in Finland. Solita’s profitability has remained robust during the years of rapid expansion under Vaaka Partners’ ownership.

Vaaka Partners invested in Solita in 2013. In mere five years, Solita has determinedly expanded its service offering at both ends of the clients’ digital transformation project life cycle. Now Solita’s service offering covers everything from consulting to service design and software development and on to maintenance and continuous development. Solita’s abilities, in particular the cloud based analytics offering, is unique in the whole Northern Europe. The strategic intention now is the international expansion based on this competitive edge using the resources of the Apax Digital Fund.
”We are very proud of Solita’s development under Vaaka Partners’ ownership. By any metric, the company is in another league compared to five years ago when we joined them as owners. We have also successfully kick-started the international growth of Solita. We believe Apax Digital is the right owner for Solita to accelerate and support the internationalization strategy,” says partner Panu Vuorela of Vaaka Partners.

”With Vaaka, we were able to grow into the leading Finnish data-driven digital transformation company from a regional software company in Tampere only known to its clients. Vaaka’s support was critical, for instance, in the acquisition of Palmu. The next step in our growth strategy is to become a true Pan-Nordic leader in our field. Here, Apax’s vast network will be very valuable,” says CEO of Solita Jari Niska.

Early last year, Solita established its office in Stockholm, Sweden. The Singapore office was gained in the Palmu acquisition. Before, the company served its international clientele from its offices in Helsinki, Oulu, and Tampere in Finland. The latest addition to Solita office network is Tallinn, Estonia. Among Solita’s international clients there are various multinational companies such as Assa Abloy, Nokian Renkaat, Amer Sports and Metso.

The completion of the transaction is subject to the approval of the competition authority and is expected to close before the summer.

More information:
Vaaka Partners/Panu Vuorela, partner, tel. +358 40 510 0952
Solita/Jari Niska, CEO, tel. +358 40 524 6400

Solita is a digital transformation company driven by data and human insight. We create culture, services and tech solutions that help us reinvent businesses and society for the better. Our services range from strategic consulting to service design, digital development, data, AI & analytics and managed cloud services. Established in 1996, Solita employs 650 digital business specialists in Helsinki, Tampere, Oulu, Singapore, Stockholm and Tallinn. www.solita.fi/en

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