DOCTRINE invests in DEJURE.ORG

Groupe Baelen entered into a definitive agreement to sell a minority stake of less than 30% in its software subsidiary, SoftNext, to the family-backed investor Perwyn. This strategic partnership was established to reinforce the group’s acquisition engine and provide the professional expertise required to scale the organization toward a multi-billion euro valuation. While the operational management remains autonomous, the entry of new strategic capital is intended to refine the group’s consolidation processes and broaden its network of potential acquisition targets across Europe. The deal was structured to allow the parent group to retain control while benefiting from the sector-specific experience of a specialist investor in scaling technology platforms.

Rocscience has completed the cross-border acquisition of 2SI, an innovative Italian provider of structural engineering software solutions. This transaction marks another corporate development for Rocscience, following its previous software acquisitions of DIANA FEA and 3GSM. Under the terms of the agreement, Rocscience will integrate 2SI’s technical expertise and proprietary software technologies directly into its existing global product portfolio. The transaction was driven via a bilateral process, ensuring full alignment between both corporate entities. The acquisition accelerates Rocscience’s international growth strategy by expanding its product capabilities outside its core geotechnical software domain and into the structural engineering software segment. By absorbing 2SI, Rocscience expands its suite of 2D and 3D engineering software solutions tailored for civil, infrastructure, mining, and construction professionals worldwide. The industrial synergy thesis centers on leveraging Rocscience’s extensive global customer base and commercial platform to scale 2SI’s reliable and productive structural tools. This cross-border integration reinforces Rocscience's market leadership and allows it to capture broader engineering software demand across Europe and international markets.

HAWK Infinity, a Norwegian investment company focusing on software companies in Scandinavia, has successfully acquired Digiseg, a Danish AdTech provider. The transaction is structured as a buyout where the existing management team and founders will retain their roles and continue to drive the operational business forward in a new strategic partnership with the sponsor. Clearwater acted as the exclusive sell-side financial adviser to the owners of the acquired entity. This transaction represents a highly strategic platform investment for HAWK Infinity, which operates with a long-term investment horizon. For the acquirer, securing a remarkably lean and highly scalable business with a proven post-cookie technology provides a significant competitive edge. The sponsor's deep industry expertise and available dry powder will serve to further support the company's existing growth trajectory, enabling accelerated market penetration and product development. The partnership allows the management team to leverage the acquirer's structural support and strategic sparring capabilities to navigate the next phase of expansion. This operation serves as a strong market signal regarding the ongoing sector consolidation within the digital advertising and AdTech verticals.

The acquisition of Grata shifts Datasite’s economic footprint up the M&A value chain, embedding its platform into the initial, recurring stage of deal sourcing rather than relying solely on episodic transaction execution. This combination establishes a single ecosystem for capital allocators, pairing Grata’s predictive private market data with Datasite’s aggregate, anonymized transaction insights to build a proprietary database moat that increases client switching costs. The transaction opens immediate international cross-sell channels for Grata’s software by leveraging Datasite’s established global sales force and institutional corporate relationships. Backed by a substantial follow-on capital commitment from CapVest to drive organic engineering velocity and programmatic bolt-on acquisitions, the transaction ensures continuity through Grata’s co-founders, who will scale the asset as a dedicated business unit focused on expanding ARR and expanding wallet share within the global private equity and corporate advisory landscape.

This transaction involves the acquisition of an 80% majority stake in Visicon GmbH by Var Group, a strategic move designed to reinforce the acquirer's Enterprise Platform Competence Center and accelerate its internationalization in the DACH market. The business combination is driven by the demand for end-to-end digitalization of business processes within mid-market manufacturing enterprises. By integrating the target’s specialized SAP and EDI expertise, the acquirer strengthens its service portfolio and gains a new regional foothold, particularly in Germany and Austria. The rationale includes the cross-pollination of EDI and digital document flow solutions across the acquirer’s broader European customer base, creating significant potential for revenue synergies.

Proximus Group entered into a binding agreement to sell its 92.7% stake in Be-Mobile to Arrive for an enterprise value of EUR170 million. The transaction allows Proximus to complete its EUR500 million divestment program two years ahead of the original 2027 schedule, leading the group to raise its total asset disposal target to EUR600 million. For Arrive, the acquisition significantly strengthens its footprint in the Benelux region and expands its service portfolio through Be-Mobile's specialized big data and AI capabilities. The deal remains subject to approval by the Belgian Interfederal Screening Committee (CFI) for foreign direct investments.

Bain Capital acquired a majority stake in Softway Medical from Five Arrows and Naxicap Partners, valuing the group at an Enterprise Value (EV) above EUR1.0 billion. This landmark transaction marks a major transition for the French software publisher, aiming to transform a national leader into a pan-European champion. The historical shareholders, Five Arrows and Naxicap, reinvested significantly alongside the management team.

Salesforce has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Informatica for a total consideration of $8 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Salesforce will pay $25 per share in cash to Informatica’s shareholders. This successful bid comes after a previous attempt in 2024, valued at approximately $11 billion, failed to materialize. Since that time, Informatica's market capitalization had decreased by 40%, allowing Salesforce to secure the asset at a more favorable valuation. Prior to this deal, the company was largely controlled by a consortium led by Permira and CPPIB, who took the firm private in 2015 before re,listing it in 2021. The strategic rationale for the acquisition is the deployment of a "performant and responsible agentic AI" platform. By combining Informatica’s data catalog, governance, and MDM capabilities with Salesforce’s Data Cloud, MuleSoft, and Tableau, the group aims to power its "Agentforce" initiative. This integration will allow autonomous agents to access high,quality, governed data to deliver more accurate and secure business outcomes.

Pennylane has raised €75 million in a Series D funding round. The round was led by new US-based investors Meritech Capital Partners and CapitalG (Alphabet), joining existing backers including Sequoia, DST Global, and Partech. The strategic rationale for this capital injection is to prepare for the mandatory electronic invoicing reform in France, currently scheduled for late 2026/2027. This regulatory shift represents a massive market opportunity as 6 million French companies must select a certified invoicing provider. Pennylane plans to use the funds to double its workforce to 800 employees (with 50% in R&D), intensify marketing efforts, and pursue strategic external growth, following its 2024 acquisition of Billy. The founders retain governance control while steering the company toward a target of exceeding €100 million in revenue by the end of 2025.

TA Associates has entered into an agreement to make a strategic investment in smartTrade Technologies, facilitating the full exit of the previous majority investor, Hg. CEO / Co-Founder along with the broader management team, will reinvest significantly alongside TA to drive the next phase of growth. The strategic rationale for the deal centers on accelerating AI-driven product innovation, expanding smartTrade's global reach, and enhancing deployment flexibility in hosting and execution. Under Hg's five-year ownership (2020–2025), the company doubled its revenue, completed its first major North American acquisition, and established a scalable SaaS infrastructure. This transaction marks a key transition for smartTrade, aiming to solidify its leadership in the rapidly evolving digital payments and capital markets technology landscape.