Advent International leads investment in ECT

Investee Company – European Computer Telecoms (ECT)

Investee Company Country – Germany

Investee Company Business Type – Manufactures PC-based switches for telecommunications companies.

Type of Financing – Expansion

Equity Providers – Advent International, Bayern Kapital and business angels

Equity Leader (Individual) – Jan Janshen

Debt Providers – N/A

Debt Type – N/A

Debt Leader (Individual) – N/A

Equity Amount – DM10 million

Total Deal Value – DM10 million

Other Advisors – N/A

Comments – European Computer Telecoms AG (ECT), German manufacturer of PC-based switches for telecommunications companies, has received DM10 million from a consortium of investors led by Advent International and including Bayern Kapital. The investors have received a 4% stake in return for their investment.

ECT, was founded in Munich in 1998 by Dr Marshall Kavesh and Dr Hans Hubernow and now has branch offices in Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and has about 40 employees.

The company has grown by capitalising on the potential of PC-based switching technology to meet the increasing demand among telecoms resellers, new carriers and ISPs/ASPs for the ability to provide value-added services to their customers. ECT’s customers include Smart Telecom, Tele2 and Telecom One.

AutoCarrier®, is ECT’s pioneering product. It is a powerful platform for intelligent value-added services based on Internet-compatible software and open-standards computer technology. The softswitch can be used by both large public network operators and young up-and-coming carriers to offer their customers innovative value-added services like service numbers or personal number services with unified messaging.

This investment will be used to further expansion into European markets with sales and service offices in Scandinavia and Spain and to complete the development of new products currently being worked on.

Jan Janshen, investment manager at Advent International in Frankfurt, explained: “We’re convinced that before long, ECT will be the European market leader in software-based switching technology. ECT impressed us with its professionalism and the extraordinary strategic skills of its management. Within a very short time, the original team that set up the company, Dr Marshall E Kavesh, Dr Hans Huber and Walter Rott, has succeeded in building up the company to international proportions – and keeping it in the black.”