Finnish Industry Investment and Etera Mutual Pension Insurance Company have subscribed in a private placement for approximately 25% of the total capital stock of Academica Ltd’s parent company. Academica is wholly-owned by its parent. The other continuing owners of the company are Finnish private investors and the companys employees.
Academica, which has been operating in the ICT sector since 1985, offers companies a one-stop product portfolio ranging from GSM connections to virtualised workstations. In recent years Academica has focused on data centers and virtualised services by building ecofriendly computer halls in central Helsinki. The waste heat generated by the servers in these halls is fed into the citys district heating network to provide heat for Helsinki homes.
“We have managed to find our niche in the Finnish market for ICT services. We are also constantly developing our business to expand into new areas. Im very happy to have two major Finnish investors support us on our growth path, says Academicas CEO Marko Vanninen.
Academica offers an advanced solution for deploying energy-efficient information technology. This investment will help the company meet a growing customer need, points out Investment Director Jussi Hattula from Finnish Industry Investment.
In addition to a potentially good return, we want to help support the companys growth, particularly in the proven concept of ecofriendly data centers. We believe the companys management is fully capable of following its planned growth path, says Portfolio Manager Tatu Hemmo from Etera Mutual Pension Insurance Company.
Academica has won a number of Finnish and international awards with its data center concept, including the Uptime Institute Green Enterprise IT Award in 2010. Headquartered in Helsinki, Academica employs some 60 people. The company generated net sales amounting to 13.3m in 2010.
For further information, please contact:
Marko Vanninen, CEO, Academica Ltd
tel. +358 45 670 0222, email: marko.vanninen(a)academica.fi
Jussi Hattula, Investment Director, Finnish Industry Investment Ltd
tel. +358 40 066 9955, email: jussi.hattula(a)industryinvestment.com
Tatu Hemmo, Portfolio Manager, Etera Mutual Pension Insurance Company
tel. +358 50 403 2711, email: tatu.hemmo(a)etera.fi
Academica is a dynamic provider of a full range of information and communications technology (ICT) services. The company offers diversified telecommunications, hosting services and IT consulting. In addition, Academica is a GSM operator and produces virtual exchange services. Academica focuses particularly on high-quality data center services that are ecofriendly. Founded in 1932, and with IT operations dating back to 1985, Academica is privately owned and employs some 60 IT professionals in Helsinki. www.academica.fi
Finnish Industry Investment Ltd is a government-owned investment company. Its mission is to promote Finnish business, job creation and economic growth through venture capital and private equity investments. Finnish Industry Investment invests in funds and directly in growth companies in all sectors. The investment focus is on growth, internationalisation, spin-offs, major industrial investments, as well as sectoral and corporate restructurings. Finnish Industry Investment invests together with private co-investors, limiting its investment to at most one-half of the invested capital and ownership. Finnish Industry Investment has over 670m of capital under management. www.industryinvestment.com
Etera Mutual Pension Insurance Company insures employees and entrepreneurs in the private sector. Eteras primary mission is to provide pension cover and to secure wellbeing at work. In 2011, Etera paid out altogether 512m in pensions to some 151,000 people. Etera holds investments amounting to 5.5bn. www.etera.fi