SAN FRANCISCO, August [9], 2023 —Meltwater, a global leader in media, social and consumer intelligence, today announces that is has completed the acquisition by MW Investment B.V, an entity jointly controlled by Marlin Equity Partners (“Marlin”) and Altor. The offer and subsequent post-closing restructuring were originally announced on January 18,2023 and completed on August 9, 2023. Meltwater shareholders were entitled to receive NOK 18.00 settled in cash, shares in the Offeror, or a combination thereof. As a result of the transaction, Meltwater has been delisted from trading on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
“We look forward to partnering with Marlin and Altor to execute on our vision and mission to be the global leader in digital and social media monitoring and intelligence, to help customers monitor, understand, and influence the world around them based on data insights from the outside. I am proud of our proven track record of profitable growth, underpinned by product leadership and a committed customer base. We believe this transaction will bring new opportunities to Meltwater and we look forward to working with new ownership to drive our continued success,” said John Box, CEO of Meltwater.
“We believe Meltwater represents a unique opportunity to invest in an industry leader in the media intelligence software space with proven strategic product capabilities. Meltwater’s solutions have a significant market opportunity and are critical to strategic brand decisions across enterprises globally. We are eager to work together in partnership with Altor and management to fuel the strong growth trajectory of the company,” said Nathan Pingelton, a managing director at Marlin.
“Meltwater has a history of industry disruption and is now strategically poised to further capture a significant market opportunity. We are committed to supporting Meltwater with the strategic and financial resources that will accelerate overall growth, technological innovation and the delivery of a top-of-the-line product offering to its customers,” added Natasha Mann, a principal at Marlin.
“Altor and Marlin are aligned with Meltwater’s strategy and taking Meltwater private will enable a greater ability to execute on this strategy by investing in product, sales, and strategic M&A, as Meltwater has successfully pursued historically. Our longstanding investment in Meltwater is based on our confidence in its leadership position, strong culture, and team, and we remain very confident in the company’s future potential. We are also happy to see the support from the current shareholders and many of them believing in Meltwater’s strategy and therefore continuing as shareholders of the company.” said Mattias Holmström, Partner at Altor.
J.P. Morgan Securities plc and DNB Markets, a part of DNB Bank ASA, served as financial advisors to Meltwater. Schjødt, Houthoff and DLA Piper acted as legal advisors to Meltwater.
Carnegie AS acted as financial advisor in connection with the Offer. Advokatfirmaet Thommessen AS, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, Advokatfirmaet Wiersholm AS, Goodwin Procter LLP and AKD N.V. acted as legal advisors to the buyer.
