Finago Oy has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire the entire share capital of SPL Company Oy (“UKKO.fi”), a portfolio company of Juuri Fund I Ky. The completion of the transaction is subject to, inter alia, customary approvals by the relevant authorities.
UKKO.fi is one of Finland’s largest providers of invoicing services for light entrepreneurs and financial management solutions for micro-entrepreneurs. Ukko.fi aims to lower the threshold for entrepreneurship by taking responsibility for a significant share of the administrative burden associated with entrepreneurship, from company formation to accounting and invoicing.
Finago is a leading financial management software company in the Nordic countries, providing software solutions for financial management, payroll and HR management, as well as enterprise resource planning. The acquisition of UKKO.fi supports Finago’s continued development and position as a leading business software provider in the Nordics. Finago’s main owner is KKR & Co Inc., a leading investment firm.
During Juuri Partners’ ownership, UKKO.fi has expanded its offering to include light entrepreneurship services with a business ID, as well as financial management solutions offered as recurring revenue model for private traders and small limited liability companies. The company’s revenue and EBITDA have grown approximately 2.5x and more than half of the revenue today is recurring (ARR).
Following the transaction, UKKO.fi’s operations will continue unchanged and independently within the Finago Group.
“We have had an active dialogue with the Finago team during the process and we believe that UKKO.fi is an excellent complement to Finago’s offering. Together with Finago, we will be able to provide our customers with a broader offering. Being a part of Finago group in the future will also open up interesting learning opportunities for UKKO.fi’s personnel. I would like to thank all UKKO.fi’s employees for the fantastic journey so far,” comments UKKO.fi’s CEO, Aleksi Simola.
“UKKO.fi is a significant Finnish growth company that has provided over 160,000 Finns an opportunity to test their business ideas and start entrepreneurship. The company has played an essential role in developing the invoicing service model based on light entrepreneurship in Finland. The company has handled payments on behalf of entrepreneurs totaling over 1.6bn euros and taken care of the necessary social security contributions and tax withholdings for the tax authorities. I want to thank the company’s management, employees, board members and other owners for creating a great company and implementing a successful growth strategy. I am very pleased that we were able to find a new strategic owner for the company who is able to accelerate the company’s growth in new geographic markets and with a broader offering,” says Tapani Varjas, Partner at Juuri Partners.
About Juuri Partners
Juuri Partners manages two private equity funds with approximately €200 million in cumulative capital commitments. Juuri Partners supports entrepreneurs in building success stories and invests in exceptional small and medium-sized companies in Finland. Juuri Partners offers a business development concept that combines growth financing, active ownership and strategic business support. The investor base for the funds comprises of Finnish and international institutional investors.
