Amsterdam – Novagraaf announced today its collaboration with Paragon Partners, a Munich-based private equity company that is investing into Novagraaf by taking a majority stake from current investor Gilde Buy-Out Partners. This investment represents a major endorsement of Novagraaf’s plans to grow its business by investing further into its people, services and technologies, while meeting the changing needs of its global customer base.
Founded in 1888, Novagraaf is the world’s largest trademark filer and a major patent filer, managing more than one million intellectual property (IP) assets on behalf of customers, and representing many of the world’s major patent and trademark owners. The company is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, with offices throughout Europe, including London, Brussels, Paris and Geneva. Novagraaf also opened sales operations in the US, China, and Japan in 2016.
Novagraaf works for some of the world’s leading IP owners, from ambitious start-ups to household names. Paragon Partners will invest significantly into the continued expansion of the business and its input and expertise will further strengthen the organisation.
“This investment endorses our strategy to meet ever-changing market requirements by investing in our people and technology to provide world-class IP services”, comments Novagraaf CEO Lutgarde Liezenberg. “We are proud that Paragon supports our vision for growth, and we look forward to working with them to continue to deliver value-added innovative services across the entire IP life cycle to all our customers.”
Liezenberg adds: “We would also like to thank Gilde for being a very reliable and loyal partner to Novagraaf. Thanks to their professional contribution, we have been able to build a truly unique, leading IP services platform in Europe.”
Commenting on the new investment, Dr. Krischan von Moeller, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Paragon Partners says: “Novagraaf has developed a diverse, strong and loyal customer base due to its focus on high-quality services and innovative technology. We look forward to working with them to realise further growth potential. Our investment in people, processes and technology will make sure the company continues to outperform on customer expectations.”
About Paragon Partners
Paragon Partners is an independent private equity company investing in innovative companies with a proven and sustainable business model. This is its second investment into the intellectual property (IP) services sector after acquiring the operating business of Pavis e.G, a leading provider of value-add IP management services in September 2016. For more information, visit www.paragon.de/en.
About Novagraaf
Headquartered in the Netherlands, Novagraaf has offices throughout Europe in IP hotspots such as Amsterdam, Brussels, Geneva, London and Paris. Novagraaf is among the top five service providers in the field of IP in Europe. It currently employs more than 350 dedicated professionals and staff members through its 16 offices (including representative offices in US, Hong Kong and Japan), and offers a wide range of advisory and management services in the IP field. Its services span the full life cycle of patent, trademark, design and domain name services from domestic registrations to complex global portfolios. It offers clients innovative tools for analysis and decision making; IP rights monitoring and anti-counterfeiting; and IP valuation. For more information visit our website: www.novagraaf.com.
For more information on this transaction, please contact:
John Jacobs
+44 207.927.7464
jjacobs@marbau.com
Nick Baughan
610.616.3294
nbaughan@marbau.com
Chris Rose
610.616.3298
crose@marbau.com
Bill Takeuchi
610.616.3296
wtakeuchi@marbau.com
About Marks Baughan Securities
Marks Baughan provides investment banking services to growth companies. Our clients are software, technology-enabled services and data-intensive companies seeking shareholder liquidity or growth capital. We work tirelessly alongside our clients and excel at defensible positioning and disciplined processes that maximize shareholder value. Our professionals come from senior positions at bulge-bracket firms, giving our clients access to the relationships and experience that come from our years of interaction with the top executives and investors in companies in our fields. Our clients receive top-flight advice throughout any advisory relationship, because our boutique approach allows our senior advisors to stay deeply involved with each client on a continuous basis. No handoffs to junior staff. No preferential client relationships. No conflicts of interest.
For more information on Marks Baughan, visit www.marbau.com.