H.I.G. Europe Portfolio Company, AIRCOM International, Acquires Symena Software
LONDON & VIENNA – April 24, 2012 – AIRCOM International, a portfolio company of H.I.G. Europe, the European arm of global private equity investment firm H.I.G. Capital, announces the acquisition of Symena Software and Consulting GmbH (“Symena”). AIRCOM is the world’s largest independent provider of network planning management and optimisation tools and services to the mobile telecoms industry; its products are in use across more than 135 countries by over half the world’s mobile operators.
Symena develops market-leading software that helps to automate mobile networks. The company was founded in 2002 as a spin-off from Vienna University. It has enjoyed significant market traction with leading international operators, network equipment providers, systems integrators and drive test tool vendors including Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Vodafone.
The acquisition will further strengthen AIRCOM’s LTE/4G radio network capability by integrating Symena’s best-in-class solutions with AIRCOM’s market leading planning and performance management tools.
Under the leadership of Chief Executive Alwyn Welch, who joined the business in 2011, AIRCOM continues to see strong growth in the market for mobile network management tools and services. Welch said: “Our decision to acquire Symena is a clear demonstration of our commitment to cost effectively deliver optimal service quality across multi-technology and multi-vendor networks. By capturing Symena’s proven technology and internationally recognised skillset, we can deliver even further value to our respective customers while offering a powerful business case to new operators and vendors.”
Paul Canning, Managing Director, H.I.G. Europe said: “We are delighted to support AIRCOM’s acquisition of Symena. This transaction should further cement AIRCOM’s position as the leading independent optimization software and solutions provider to the mobile telecoms industry.”
About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. Capital is a leading global private equity investment firm with more than £6 billion of equity capital under management and a team of more than 225 investment professionals. Based in Miami, and with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, and San Francisco in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Paris and Rio de Janeiro, H.I.G. specializes in providing capital to small and medium-sized companies with attractive growth potential. H.I.G. invests in management-led buyouts and recapitalizations of profitable and well managed manufacturing or service businesses. H.I.G. also has extensive experience with financial restructurings and operational turnarounds. Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. invested in and managed more than 200 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 50 companies with combined revenues in excess of £5 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.hig.com.