Trema says it has completed a Euros 8 million capital-raising exercise, in which Investcorp led the buy-out of the shareholding in Trema held by Trema International Holdings B.V., an investment vehicle controlled by the founders of Trema, including Kaj Hed. However, all existing investors, The Carlyle Group, ABS Ventures and Norsk Vekst, participated in the financing round.
Investcorp has appointed two directors to the board of Trema – Richard Fuller and Dr Dirk Schmcking. “We were attracted to Trema based on its blue chip customer base and reputation as a high quality provider of essential software to the treasury departments of the world’s leading companies and institutions,” says Fuller. “With the additional funding in place and a strong balance sheet, Trema is well positioned to pursue growth opportunities in the global financial resource management software space.”
Michle Fitzpatrick, CEO of Trema, says she is delighted to have Investcorp as a shareholder and on the board. “[We] believe they will add tremendous value in helping us shape our strategy for the future,” she says. “The additional funding will enable us to expand Trema’s presence outside Europe and the scope of our product suite, as we remain committed to serving the needs of some of the most demanding customers in the world. We are pleased with our year-on-year performance, especially the 23% growth in New License Sales in the second half of the year, and the fact that we saw a record number of new clients go live on our market leading Treasury, Cash & Asset Management software, including France Telecom, IF Investment, Ministry of Finance British Columbia, Lucent Technologies and Banque de France.”
Speaking for the existing investors, the Chairman of Trema’s Supervisory Board, Dr Wolfgang Hanrieder, a Managing Director of The Carlyle Group says the transaction crowns a successful year in which Trema signed 15 new clients. “We remain very optimistic about the potential of the Company and the strength of its new management team and we are confident that 2005 is going to be a year of top line growth and strengthened profitability for Trema,” he says.