Cerillion Attracts Further $9,000,000 Investment
London, 11th April 2001 – Convergent Customer Care and Billing specialist, Cerillion Technologies has attracted a further $9,000,000 of investment.
Digital Capital AG, an investment company wholly-owned by Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale, Düsseldorf (Germany) has invested $4,500,000 whilst Granville Baird Capital Partners, the Anglo US venture capital firm, have doubled their original investment by investing a further $4,500,000. WestLB Panmure arranged the participation of Digital Capital and has been appointed financial adviser to Cerillion.
The investment will help to fund Cerillion Technologies accelerated growth plan. Specifically, the funds will be used to support recent project wins, to accelerate product developments and to expand Cerillion Technologies’ sales and marketing activities.
Commenting on the investment David Tate, Executive Director at West LB Panmure, said,” We have been carefully monitoring the progress of Cerillion Technologies in this space for some time. We are excited to contribute to the success of a company such as Cerillion which is poised for rapid growth and which will quite clearly become one of the market leaders of the future.”
Chris Harper, Director at Granville Baird Capital Partners added: “Cerillion Technologies’ progress has been dramatic since our original investment in June 2000. They have, for instance, won the contract for the world’s first UMTS customer care and billing project. This, together with several other developments that have yet to be announced, makes Cerillion Technologies one of the most exciting companies in the market today.”
Louis Hall, Managing Director of Cerillion Technologies said. “Cerillion Technologies has grown substantially since completion of first round funding in June last year, with a number of significant project wins. This new investment provides the platform we need to drive for even faster growth. We look forward to a fruitful partnership with WestLB Panmure and are sure that we will benefit from their considerable experience in our market sector. We are also very pleased that Granville Baird have followed their earlier investment by participating in this round.”
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Notes to editors
About WestLB and WestLB Panmure
With total assets as of the end of 2000 of nearly Euro 400 billion, WestLB is one of the largest financial institutions in Europe. It currently is rated Aa1 by Moody's, AA+ by S&P and AAA by IBCA. West LB performs three functions: universal bank, central institution of the savings banks in North Rhine – Westphalia and Brandenburg, and municipal bank of North Rhine – Westphalia. Equity business has been pooled under the brand name “WestLB Panmure”. As a wholesale bank, WestLB is represented in more than 35 countries with more than 11,000 people worldwide.
WestLB Panmure is a fully integrated, client driven, pan-European provider of equities and investment banking services focusing on growth companies in a number of selected industry sectors.
WestLB Panmure creates value through excellence in the research of growth sectors across Europe and the competence to meet the evolving needs of growth company clients in raising specialised finance.
For investors this means research to guide clients through the specialised, complex world of growth stocks and high yield bonds, and first class execution of their trading strategies, putting our capital at risk where appropriate.
For corporate clients, this means providing them with the full range of advice and capital (whether in the form of strategic and m&a advice, access to equity, equity-linked, high yield or development capital markets, including bridge transactions) and a strong distribution platform to access a world-wide investor base.
About Granville Baird
Granville Baird Capital Partners is a top quartile performer investing directly in fast growing unquoted companies whose progress is driven by technology. Capital is provided through a variety of structures from management buy-ins and buy-outs to buy & build strategies.
Granville Baird is a European investment banking group that focuses on servicing growth companies, both private and quoted and institutional investors. Granville Baird was created by the merger in November 1999 of Granville plc and Robert W. Baird & Co. ('Baird'), a leading specialist US investment banking and brokerage firm. Both Granville Baird and Baird share a focus on growth companies and have strong industry sector specialisations. The synergies across the companies' equity research, investment banking, private equity and wealth management businesses, creates an investment banking group with enhanced international capabilities delivered through offices across the United States and Europe.
Granville Baird Capital Partners Limited is regulated by IMRO.