International web hosting business Miss Group has completed its fourth acquisition this year to date acquiring Swedish VPN provider PrivateVPN.
Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Sweden, the company provides VPN services to over 75,000 customers globally. In the 12 months to March 2022, PrivateVPN reported revenues of SEK29m.
PrivateVPN is the fastest growing private VPN product worldwide, enabling customers to easily connect to high security servers to provide encrypted and safe communication. It also protects its customers’ IP from third party companies.
Fredrik Björklund, co-founder and CEO of Miss Group, said: “The opportunity to invest in PrivateVPN presented a unique situation to acquire the fastest-growing private VPN product worldwide and is an important addition to our growing portfolio. Alongside the Group’s other licensed security product offerings, this acquisition provides a foundation for building out a broader security product portfolio within Miss Group to support our growing international customer base.”
Martin Müller, founder of PrivateVPN, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Miss Group as new owners and investors of PrivateVPN. The investment by Miss Group in PrivateVPN will strengthen not only the organisation, but also PrivateVPN’s global footprint. With a rapidly growing market where the need for secure internet connections is greater than ever, I am convinced that with Miss Group PrivateVPN will be able to provide stronger VPN services to the market.”
Martin Müller will leave the business post acquisition, with day-to-day management transitioning to Miss Group’s established management team in Sweden.
Perwyn, the family-backed private equity business, acquired a majority position in Miss Group in February 2020 to support the growth ambitions of the business through international expansion and ongoing M&A. Private VPN takes the total number of acquisitions completed under Perwyn ownership to 12, and the total number of acquisitions completed by Miss Group since 2018 to 21.
Mark Blower, Partner at Perwyn and Miss Group Board member, said: “We have successfully completed four key acquisitions already this year and our pipeline for 2022 continues to strengthen to realise further international growth. PrivateVPN is an excellent example of the new products and services we’re seeking to add to Miss Group’s portfolio to provide businesses around the world with the best-in-class web services and support.”
Miss Group’s ambitious growth trajectory saw proforma revenues for the year ending December 2021 reach €66 million with a 43% EBITDA margin. The Group anticipates reaching €100 million turnover and 45% EBITDA margin within the next 12 months. In May 2022, Miss Group acquired one of Sweden’s largest web hosting companies, Cloudnet, and US-based WordPress specialist Cloud Access.
Miss Group was supported on this transaction by:
- Legal advice – Squire Patton Boggs (Matt Canipa and Mona Mojtabavi)
- Financial due diligence – EY (Steven Kingham and Svetlana Stewart)
- Corporate advisory – Anecta / Translink Corporate Finance (Fredrik Ullberg and Sebastian Süllmann)