Yes, acquires. I hope they paid for it. I hope they didn't steal it.
Anyway ...
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, May 4, 2020 - Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Europe ("LLCP") announces that it has acquired SiPM (the "Company") in partnership with management and its founding partners. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Oh, not disclosed.
Founded in Belgium, SiPM is a pioneer in high-impact e-learning solutions for blue-chip corporations worldwide. The Company has changed the way their clients train their procurement, supply chain and sales professionals by providing role-specific curriculum and the latest e-learning methods, resulting in maximum impact for employees and organizations. Since its founding, SiPM has rapidly expanded its platform to over 50,000 individuals employed by over 200 blue-chip corporations in over 100 countries worldwide.
So, SiPM provides training solutions for sales professionals. Do they have anything like the Straight Line system? I doubt it.
Anyway ...
David Rajakovich, Managing Director Operations, commented, "We welcome LLCP's extensive experience in corporate education and training, along with its proven track record of supporting entrepreneurs. We are very excited about this next step in the development of our Company and look forward to continuing our mission to provide clients with best-in-class, personalized training programs."
Yes, David works at SiPM. The PR email should have made that clear. 'Company with a capital C, boss.' Shut up, Voice! / Never mind. I'm making it clear now. It's not as if I have anything better to do.
Anyway ...
Thomas Schmitt, Managing Director Sales, added, "We are excited to join LLCP's global network and believe their local presence in our core markets will be a critical driver of future growth."
Obviously, Thomas also works at SiPM. He's not just some managing director of sales, floating around the world without a company. Floating on a cloud of utter delusion! No, no, no. Uh.
Anyway ...
Regarding their re-investment, Raf Verheyden, co-founder, commented on behalf of the founders, "Peter Leyten and I joined forces in 2011 with a vision to radically change the traditional way of upskilling procurement, supply chain and sales professionals: faster, better and more cost-effective. We are both proud to see the progress we have made since then. With LLCP on board, we are more than confident that the Company has the support it needs to create a further step-change in the growth profile of the business."
Oh, the Company. But they're all working for LLCP now. All of them! Yes. I don't care. As long as they're happy. Are they happy? I want them to be happy. All of them.
Anyway ...
According to Wouter Snoeijers, Managing Director of LLCP, "We are thrilled to partner with SiPM. We believe that SiPM is uniquely positioned to support the professional development needs of its global client base and look forward to supporting its continued growth and success."
Okay, okay. Thank you, Wouter. You are the managing director of LLCP. I would take my hat off to you, but I don't have a hat.
About Levine Leichtman Capital Partners
Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, LLC is a middle-market private equity firm with a 36-year track record of successfully investing across various targeted sectors, including franchising, professional services, education and engineered products. LLCP utilizes a differentiated Structured Equity investment strategy, combining debt and equity capital investments in portfolio companies. This unique structure provides a less dilutive solution for management teams and entrepreneurs, while delivering growth and income with a significantly lower risk profile.
LLCP's global team of dedicated investment professionals is led by seven partners who have worked together for an average of 21 years. Since inception, LLCP has managed over $10.8 billion of institutional capital across 14 investment funds and has invested in over 85 portfolio companies. LLCP currently manages $6.9 billion of assets - including its most recent flagship fund, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners VI, L.P., which closed in 2018 with $2.5 billion of committed capital - and has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Chicago, Charlotte, Miami, London, Stockholm and The Hague.
Fair enough.
...
Anything else?
Music, I suppose. Now that I have all the songs I need for my album, I'm not going to write many new songs. I want to write great songs only. Slowly. One here, one there. There's no rush. Life seems pointless. Only a great song can make any sense to me at the moment. Listen to Beethoven's Ninth. [Karajan, 1977.] That guy didn't mess around, did he?
Beethoven knew that the cosmos would only notice his Ninth. The first three minutes of the second movement of his Seventh. The famous bit of the Fifth. The famous bit of the Moonlight Sonata.
And let's not talk about God. No, no, no. It's the cosmos we need to impress. Oh, I prefer "cosmos". Seriously, God does not deserve music like Beethoven's. And He won't deserve my sixth world-beater. [I need the lyrics for the verses.] Great art is created in defiance of God. Yes! Great artists say to Him: "Look at me! I'm not as weak and pathetic as you made me. I've improved myself!"
Little victories that survive death.
The cosmos loves us when we make the effort.
