Demonstrates Union Square Advisors’ continued momentum in providing strategic advice to leading financial sponsors and companies in the technology space
On January 8, 2020, Lytx Inc. and Permira, the global private equity firm, announced that a company backed by the Permira funds and co-investors have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Lytx. The transaction values Lytx, a leading provider of machine vision and artificial intelligence-powered video telematics solutions for commercial, public sector and field services fleets, in excess of $2.5 billion.
“Permira is a leading technology investor globally and has a proven track record of helping companies build and grow their businesses over the long term,” said Brandon Nixon, CEO of Lytx. “With their expertise and the capital from this transaction, Lytx is poised to accelerate product innovation, make strategic acquisitions, expand globally and further lead the digital transformation of fleets worldwide.”
The market for video telematics remains virtually untapped. Only an estimated one million commercial vehicles are currently leveraging data derived from video telematics technologies – less than 1% of the 125.6 million commercial vehicles globally, according to industry research firm Frost & Sullivan.
“While Lytx has experienced rapid, double-digit growth in recent years, we’ve barely begun to scratch the surface of the addressable global market,” Nixon added.
“We have long admired Lytx and its management team as the clear market leader in this incredibly promising, high-growth sector,” said Brian Ruder, Partner and Co-head of Technology at Permira. “In a field of more than 100 competitors, Lytx stands head and shoulders above the rest. We’re especially impressed by Lytx’s ability to aggressively set the pace for innovation, while maintaining positive EBITDA. We see numerous opportunities to leverage our cross-sector expertise in technology and industrials, as well as our global footprint, to accelerate Lytx’s already strong revenue growth domestically and internationally. We look forward to backing the Company in its next growth phase.”
“Lytx’s patented technologies, the scale of its network, and its unrivaled and growing proprietary database make it the company that’s best positioned to not only win in today’s market, but also shepherd the advancement of autonomous vehicles,” Ruder said.
Read the full press release here.
About Permira
Permira is a global investment firm. Founded in 1985, the firm advises funds with a total committed capital of approximately US$48bn (€44bn) and makes long-term investments, including majority control investments as well as strategic minority investments, in companies with the objective of transforming their performance and driving sustainable growth. The Permira funds have made over 250 private equity investments in five key sectors: Technology, Consumer, Financial Services, Industrial Tech and Services, and Healthcare. Permira employs over 250 people in 14 offices across Europe, North America, and Asia.
