ASTER TECHNOLOGIES acquired by SIEMENS

Verto Growth acquired Reflexion Capital's minority stake in MyTower, becoming the new reference minority shareholder behind the majority management team. The sale process was managed by Rothschild & Co. Reflexion Capital exits with a gross money-on-money multiple of 4x and a net IRR of 38.7%, representing its first-ever portfolio exit. Verto's investment thesis centres on MyTower's modern technology stack, its strong positioning in the growing shipper TMS market, and its potential to become a reference European software platform through an active build-up strategy. Verto may take a controlling stake if a transformative acquisition is finalised in the coming months. Crystal Group retains a small residual minority position.

Extens structured a majority MBI to merge Orthalis and Dentalsoft into a new holding entity called SignalSoft Developpement. The project is led by Laurent Urien (CEO), who takes over from the exiting founders. The merger aims to create a dominant French platform with over EUR20M in revenue, focused on product innovation and international expansion into Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.

The founders of Hipto bought back their independence from Olyn (Gimv-backed holding). The transaction values Hipto at ~EUR20M. Concurrently, Hipto completed its first build-up by acquiring Zone ADSL&Fibre, a telecom comparison platform. The goal is to reach EUR100M in revenue within 2 years by shifting value toward intentional and qualified leads in a post-cold calling era.

Harvest has successfully finalized the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Firstance, following its previous international expansion into the DACH region. The strategic rationale for this transaction is to create a unified European WealthTech champion by merging Harvest’s leading position in wealth management software with Firstance’s dominant digital distribution platform for life insurance. This alliance allows the combined entity to offer a comprehensive, cross-border technological suite to financial institutions across more than 30 jurisdictions. By entering the Italian market, Harvest significantly scales its geographical footprint and diversifies its product offering into the private insurance vertical. The integration aims to leverage human and technological synergies to meet the rising demand for sovereign European financial software solutions, providing a highly differentiated and sophisticated digital experience for wealth management professionals and their end-clients across the continent.

Montefiore Investment has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire a joint-controlling equity stake in Arche MC2, forming an equal 50/50 partnership with the company's historical financial sponsor, Activa Capital. Choosing not to execute a full exit at this stage, Activa Capital has structured this co-investment framework to actively co-sponsor the platform's next growth cycle. Under the updated governance and capital structure, the internal management team will retain a minority equity stake, while Turenne Capital and Groupe Up will fully divest their respective holdings and exit the capital. The investment thesis centers on driving cross-border expansion and product diversification through a powerful dual-sponsor model. For Arche MC2, the strategic rationale focuses on leveraging Montefiore Investment’s established institutional presence and localized operational networks in Italy and Spain to accelerate international market penetration. Concurrently, the post-closing corporate roadmap prioritizes expanding the platform’s core software capabilities and product features—specifically targeting advanced modules in human resources (HR), payroll processing, and regulatory compliance—to maximize customer lifetime value and capture a broader share of the enterprise software market.

Corilus acquired Sofia Developpement. This strategic cross-border merger creates a leading Franco-Belgian player with 70,000 users. The transaction marks a successful exit for IK Partners, which nearly doubled the company's valuation in two years through organic growth and key acquisitions (LogicMax, ComptaSante).

Pennylane raised EUR175M in a Series E funding round led by TCV and Blackstone. This round valued the company at approx. EUREUR3.5B. The funds are earmarked for product innovation (notably AI features) and accelerating market penetration among accounting firms.

The SaaS customer relationship management software provider welcomes Oakley and General Atlantic alongside its long-standing clients Bridgepoint and Bpifrance. The company also announces the departure of Partech, which had been a customer for 8 years.

smartTrade Technologies has acquired kACE Financial to create a unified, multi-asset trading and payments platform. This transformational acquisition combines smartTrade’s low-latency SaaS infrastructure with kACE’s specialized expertise in FX derivatives and complex pricing analytics. The strategic rationale is to address the market's increasing demand for a single, integrated workflow that handles everything from simple spot trading to sophisticated structured products. Following the recent investment from TA Associates, this deal represents a major step in smartTrade's innovation roadmap, specifically accelerating its transition to a fully cloud-native, AI-driven offering. The merger allows the combined group to leverage a global infrastructure and an expanded technical team to deliver lower total cost of ownership (TCO) for its international banking and brokerage clients.

Upvest has successfully closed a $125 million (€115 million) funding round, valuing the company at approximately $735 million (€680 million). The transaction includes $90 million in equity financing led by BlackRock, alongside Sapphire Ventures, Tencent, and Bessemer Venture Partners, with additional discussions for a $35 million credit facility. The strategic rationale for the deal is to accelerate Upvest's path to profitability and support its target of exceeding €100 million in annualized revenue within the next 24 months. The fresh capital will be used to expand the platform’s regional footprint and roll out innovative AI-supported tools for personalized advisory services. This round follows a €30 million bridge in 2023 and a December 2024 valuation of €360 million, marking a nearly 2x valuation increase in 12 months.