Royalton Seals First Slovenian Deal

Central and Eastern European private equity investor Royalton Capital Investors II has acquired an indirect stake of 70% of IUS Software, a Slovenian online information provider to legal and business professionals. The purchase of IUS marks Royalton’s first investment in Slovenia and its third acquisition in Central and Eastern Europe this year.

PRESS RELEASE

Royalton Capital Investors II L.P., a private equity fund, announced that on 9 December 2011 it acquired in a proprietary transaction via IUS Legal and Business Solutions B.V., its Dutch holding company, an indirect stake of 70% of IUS Software d.o.o., Slovenia’s leading online information provider to legal and business professionals.
The purchase of IUS marks Royalton’s first investment in Slovenia and its third acquisition in Central and Eastern Europe this year.
Established in 1989, IUS Software d.o.o. was founded by Anton Tomazic. The IUS Group operates in Ljubljana and Zagreb offering a full range of on-line services, through its legal, finance and tax portals, to professionals in Slovenia and Croatia. The IUS Group employs 70 people, and, in 2011, serviced over 12,000 customers in both countries.
Royalton acquired shares from Koinon NV, STJ Ltd, and Anton Tomazic, who reduced his shareholding to 10%. As part of the transaction, Royalton funded a capital increase to give the group sufficient capital to make acquisitions in other selected markets.
Nigel P. Williams, the Managing Partner of Royalton, said:
“The buyout of IUS fits perfectly with Royalton’s strategy of buying control of companies active in the non-tradable space in Central and Eastern Europe. We look forward to working with IUS’s management team in continuing to provide legal and business information 24/7 on-line. Additionally we will assist IUS in entering other European markets.”
Since 2004, IUS has been managed by Tomaz Iskra who will continue as shareholder and CEO.
Tomaz Iskra said:
“We have established IUS as the market standard in Slovenia and already have a 35% share of the Croatian market. With support from Royalton, we are ready to go to the next stage, and accelerate our international expansion.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS:
Royalton Capital Investors II L.P. is a private equity fund focused on making private equity investments in the EU accession countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The fund was established in 2007.
Royalton Partners, the advisor to the fund, is a private equity, mid-cap development capital and buy-out manager, specializing in the new EU member and candidate states. Nigel Williams and Ivan Vohlmuth, the founding partners, have been working together since 1990 and manage the firm from offices in Warsaw, Prague and Zurich.
Royalton was advised by Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners (legal), PWC (financial and tax) and Privata poslovno svetovanje d.o.o. (M&A). Sellers were advised by FMMS (legal) and PWC (financial and tax).