NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (together with its affiliates,
"KKR"), today announced a $150 million growth equity investment in
Fotolia. In addition, KKR, TA Associates and Management worked with KKR
Capital Markets and a number of relationship banks to put in place a
$150 million senior financing for the Company.
Founded in 2005, Fotolia offers its users over 17 million digital images
and videos. Fotolia is the leading microstock platform in Europe and is
ranked among the top stock photography websites globally, providing a
unique marketplace for photographers to sell their images. Every day,
photographers and designers upload thousands of new images and videos
onto Fotolia's platform. Photographers receive commissions from each
image that is licensed via Fotolia. Fotolia therefore provides a benefit
to both photographers and buyers by protecting intellectual property
rights and generating commission income for photographers, while
offering quality images at affordable prices to its buyers.
Oleg Tscheltzoff, co-Founder and CEO of Fotolia, said: "After only seven
years, this investment is a testament to our rapid progress as a
company. We are extremely proud to have KKR, one of the largest and most
reputable private equity firms, join Fotolia as a lead investor. KKR
shares Fotolia's philosophy of growth through innovation and will be
contributing valuable entrepreneurial capital. Our new partner offers
operational capabilities and a deep network that will help Fotolia
accelerate its growth. The extensive worldwide network of KKR will
enable us to cement our global leadership in the stock photography
industry and further our goal of being the global source of inspiration
for designers and buyers of creative content."
Philipp Freise, Head of European Media Investments for KKR, commented:
"We are very excited to partner with the team that has built Fotolia
from a startup into one of the world's leading microstock platforms with
a strong leadership position in Europe. The Company has grown
significantly since 2005 and has consistently demonstrated the kind of
innovation and leadership that we look for in our digital media
investments. Today's investment is about fueling even more growth and
fostering a new phase of development, to which we will contribute the
whole suite of KKR's capabilities."
Fotolia received its first growth investment from TA Associates in 2009.
Jonathan Meeks, a Managing Director at TA Associates, added: "We have
enjoyed being associated with Fotolia over the past three years and
partnering with Oleg and his team to foster the company's continued
growth. We welcome KKR as a new investor and look forward to working
closely with them and management to further build value in Fotolia."
Barclays acted as sole financial advisor to KKR, while NOAH Advisors
acted as sole financial advisor to Fotolia and its shareholders.
- ENDS -
About Fotolia
Headquartered in New York, Fotolia operates websites in 15 countries in
11 languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese,
Polish, Russian, Japanese, Turkish, and Korean). With over 17 million
digital images and videos to choose from, Fotolia offers one of the
largest image databases of quality. Over 3 million people choose Fotolia
for affordable, royalty-free images, graphics and HD videos. With the
introduction of the Infinite Collection, Fotolia became the first
worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowd-sourced and
professional images on one site. Fotolia's leadership in the digital
images sector is recognized by its partnerships with, amongst others,
the Associated Press. Earlier this year, Fotolia acquired Wilogo, a
crowd-sourced design community. Connect with Fotolia on Facebook
and Twitter.
About KKR
Founded in 1976 and led by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, KKR is a
leading global investment firm with $62.3 billion in assets under
management as of March 31, 2012. With offices around the world, KKR
manages assets through a variety of investment funds and accounts
covering multiple asset classes. KKR seeks to create value by bringing
operational expertise to its portfolio companies and through active
oversight and monitoring of its investments. KKR complements its
investment expertise and strengthens interactions with investors through
its client relationships and capital markets platform. KKR is publicly
traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: KKR). For additional
information, please visit KKR's website.
About TA Associates
Founded in 1968, TA Associates is one of the largest and most
experienced middle-market growth private equity firms. The firm has
invested in over 400 companies globally and has raised more than $16
billion in capital. With offices in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai
and Hong Kong, TA Associates leads buyouts and minority
recapitalizations of profitable growth companies in the healthcare,
technology, financial services, business services and consumer
industries. More information about TA Associates can be found at www.ta.com.
KKR
U.S.
Kristi Huller
Kristi.Huller@kkr.com
212-230-9722
or
Germany
Anna
Sperber
asperber@heringschuppener.com
+49.69.92.18.74-78
or
France
Estelle
Guillot-Tantay
egt@image7.fr
+33
(1) 53 70 74 93
or
Fotolia
Patrick Lor
pat@fotolia.com
+1(650)
450-9048
or
TA Associates
U.S.
BackBay
Communications
Philip Nunes
phil.nunes@backbaycommunications.com
617-556-9982,
x227
or
Europe
BackBay Communications
Toby Mitchenall
toby.mitchenall@backbaycommunications.com
+44-203-440-2942
+44-7768-364111
(M)
Source: KKR
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