EQT VII Acquires 68% of Votes and 63% of Capital In IFS for SEK 362.50 Per Share

EQT VII ("EQT"), through IGT Holding IV AB ("IGT Holding"), has acquired shares in Industrial and Financial Systems, IFS Aktiebolag (publ) ("IFS") corresponding to 68 per cent of the votes and 63 per cent of the total number of shares in IFS. The acquisitions were made from IFS' main shareholders including Förvaltnings AB Wasatornet, Gustaf Douglas, Catella Fondförvaltning AB, Lannebo Fonder AB, SEB, AP4, Anders Böös AB, Greenfield AB (Bengt Nilsson), Heinz Kopfinger, DNB (together the "Main Shareholders"), and others.

IGT Holding has acquired the shares at a price of SEK 362.50 per share, regardless of share class. The price paid is approximately 20 per cent (and 21 per cent) higher, compared to IFS' six months volume-weighted average share price on Nasdaq Stockholm for IFS's B-shares (and A-shares).

Through the acquisitions, IGT Holding has passed the mandatory bid threshold of 30 per cent of the votes in IFS, which IGT Holding according to Chapter 3, Section 1 of the Swedish Public Takeover Act (2006:451) must disclose. This press release constitutes such a disclosure. IGT Holding is now under an obligation to launch a mandatory bid for the remaining shares in IFS within four weeks from the acquisitions, i.e. no later than 25 December 2015. IGT Holding will within this period, following a formal board resolution, launch a mandatory bid for the remaining shares in IFS for a consideration of SEK 362.50 per share through a separate press release.

Background to the acquisitions and EQT's interest in IFS
IFS is active in the development, sale and implementation of enterprise software for enterprise resource planning (ERP). The company was founded in 1983 and currently has over 2,700 employees, supporting more than 2,400 customers worldwide from its network of local offices and through a growing ecosystem of partners. IFS has approximately 1 million users in businesses all over the world, who rely on IFS' software for mission critical business processes. IFS is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, Mid Cap.

EQT is a growth-focused investor and owner with vast experience from developing companies in various industries across the globe. During ownership, EQT's portfolio companies have on average increased number of employees by 11 per cent, sales by 8 per cent and EBITDA by 11 per cent each year.

EQT is impressed by the development and direction of the company. IFS has established an attractive position in specific areas of the manufacturing and engineering ERP market, including the Enterprise Asset Management segment. In addition, IFS is focused on certain selected customer verticals where the company is able to exert market leadership with its domain knowledge on a global scale, such as Oil & Gas, Aerospace & Defense, and Field Service Management.

EQT supports IFS' strategy of:

• continuing to invest into the further development of the industry-specific product suite to maintain and enhance the strong customer satisfaction that IFS enjoys in the market; and
• leveraging its deep domain knowledge to deliver differentiated solutions to customers in certain industry sectors, which other competitors cannot deliver; and
• leveraging its heritage and the current strong position in the Enterprise Asset Management segment and accelerating the development of "Internet of Things" applications; and
• focusing on M&A to complement its product offering and capabilities and accelerate the execution upon the objectives listed above.

EQT supports IFS' strategic objectives and believes IFS is well positioned to successfully execute. However, EQT also believes IFS would benefit from further investments into its sales and marketing, partner network and product development in order to fully achieve its strategic objectives. These investments are typically strategic and long term oriented and even though it may lead to benefits in the longer term, it will have an adverse impact on short to mid-term financial performance.

EQT believes it can assist IFS in a private setting, among other things, through:

• long-term investments into the customer offering and the organization to further strengthen the market position in selected customer verticals; and
• supporting IFS in developing its global partner ecosystem so that it can continue to improve its ability to offer cost effective global solutions; and
• providing financial and strategic resources to IFS to accelerate its M&A strategy.

EQT is convinced that, with the financial resources available to it as well as its long-term perspective as an investor, is very well positioned to support IFS upon the execution of this strategy. By leveraging its unique global network, EQT is able to support IFS to increase its global brand awareness and get access to new customers.

Keywords: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), Manufacturing and Engineering, Internet of Things (IoT), ARC Advisory Group.