Private Equity News & Analysis

TA invests $200m in CEE software company

The largest private equity deal in the CEE region this year also represents a partial exit for Enterprise Investors.

-

TA Associates has paid $200 million for a minority stake in AVG Technologies, a Czech-headquartered software company.

Two of the Boston-based private equity firm’s executives will join AVG’s board.

“TA Associates sees strong market potential in AVG, which has grown dramatically in the past few years and made some very strategic acquisitions such as its LinkScanner and behavioral technology,” Jonathan Meeks, one of the managing directors who will join AVG’s board, said in a statement. “We believe our investment will be key to taking AVG from an important mid-size contributor to a true market force, both through organic growth and acquisitions.”

Our investment will be key to taking AVG from an important mid-size contributor to a true market force.

Jonathan Meeks

The deal is the largest private equity transaction in the region this year, according to AVG’s largest shareholder, Enterprise Investors.

The Central and Eastern European-focused private equity firm purchased a 65 percent stake in AVG, formerly known as Grisoft, in 2005 along with Intel Capital. The two firms invested $52 million, with Intel taking a $16 million stake.

Enterprise said in a statement the TA deal gave it a partial exit, but did not release financial details. It remains the company’s largest shareholder with a 34 percent stake.

Benson Oak Capital, the private equity arm of Czech- and Slovak-focused investment bank Benson Oak, is also an investor.

Founded in 1991, AVG makes computer security software and has 80 million global users. It has offices in Europe and the  US.