Kartesia provides comprehensive financing solution to Kallidus; supports acquisition of Sapling

Kartesia, the European specialist provider of capital solutions for small and mid-sized companies, is pleased to announce a debt financing package for the continued growth and development of Apollo Kallidus Holdco Ltd (“Kallidus”), a provider of talent management software and Digital Learning to companies.

Founded in 2000 and based in Cirencester, Kallidus is one of the UK’s fastest growing software companies that enables businesses to use its proprietary software to develop its employees and support the entire employee lifecycle. Among its clients are more than 800 UK and global SMEs with over 1.6 million users. The business was acquired in 2019 by Apse Capital, an experienced investor in the European tech-enabled B2B market, alongisde the existing management team, with the aim of continuing to grow the business organically and through strategic acquisitions.

Kartesia has provided £26.7 million in financing through a senior secured unitranche facility and a Capex / Acquisition facility, which will be used to finance the existing debt and to support the acquisition of People Operations platform, Sapling announced earlier this week. The acquisition of Sapling will help Kallidus enter the North American market and transform into a full-suite Human Capital Management software and Digital Learning provider, offering businesses solutions across the entire employee lifecycle. Sapling is the second strategic acquisition made by Kallidus since partnering with Apse Capital.
The deal team at Kartesia comprised of Jaime Prieto, Nick Holman and Jorge Gimenez-Arribas.

Nick Holman, Director and Head of KSO UK at Kartesia, added: “We are excited at having completed our first UK deal in the SaaS sector, in which Kallidus has an impressive track record of recurring revenue growth through multiple economic cycles. We recognise the strengths of Kallidus’ award-winning products and clear benefits for their customers, which will be further enhanced with the complementary acquisition of Sapling. Apse Capital’s experience in the sector makes them a compelling partner for us and we look forward to helping Kallidus consolidate their leading market position in the UK and ambitious international growth plans.”