M&A Trends – November 2024: Fundraising in Luxembourg and Belgium
Each month, we analyze M&A deals to explore current sector trends. In November, there were a number of fund-raising deals in the fintech, regtech, enterprise solutions, hospitality tech and biotech sectors in Luxembourg and Belgium. Emma, the Luxembourg multi-cloud management platform, raises $17 million RTP Global Partners and Smartfin Capital, two venture capital funds specializing in technology companies, have invested the bulk of the $17 million raised by Emma, a Luxembourg-based start-up. With recurring sales of around €25 million this year, Emma offers a multi-cloud management platform enabling companies to deploy, optimize and manage their cloud infrastructure via a unified interface, while simplifying migrations between different providers. Luxembourg-based fintech and regtech Fundcraft raises €6 million venture capital funds3VC and Middlegame Ventures invest €6 million in Fundcraft. They join Aperture Capital and Six Fintech Ventures, who had already invested €5 million in May 2024 in the first Series A round. Fundcraft, a Luxembourg-based fintech and regtech founded in 2021, automates and simplifies fund managers’ operations via a digital platform that centralizes processes such as complex administrative tasks, reporting and regulatory compliance. Odoo, the Walloon software publisher raises €500 million CapitalG and Sequoia Capital, accompanied by BlackRock and other international investment funds, invest €500 million in Odoo, the Belgian management software provider, now valued at €5 billion. Odoo offers a customizable software platform that enables companies to manage a variety of functions, including sales, accounting, inventory management, CRM and marketing. Lightouse Intelligence, a platform for hospitality professionals, raises $370 million and joins the club of Belgian unicorns KKR, an American investment fund, has invested $370 million in LighthouseIntelligence, a Belgian-English company offering a platform for the hotel industry. Lighthouse Intelligence helps optimize bookings, in particular by providing advice on room rates based on real-time market conditions. The deal with KKR values Lighthouse Intelligence at over one billion euros, making it the fifth Belgian unicorn, alongside Collibra, Team.blue, Deliverect and Odoo. Antwerp biotech Agomab Therapeutics raises €82 million Sanofi, the French pharmaceutical giant, and Invus, an American investment fund, are investing €82 million in Series D alongside other investors already shareholders inAgomab Therapeutics, a Belgian biotech. The funding will be used to support the clinical development of three treatments for fibrostenosing Crohn’s disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver. #M&A #Mergers & Acquisitions #Market Trends #Corporate Strategy #Luxembourg #Belgium #France Sources: S&P Capital IQ Pro, Capital Finance, Paperjam, L’Echo, Les Echos
