ACON Investments Acquires Salesland, S.L.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ACON Investments L.L.C. ("ACON") announced today that affiliates of ACON Latin America Opportunities Fund IV, L.P. acquired a majority interest in Salesland, S.L. ("Salesland"), a leading provider of direct sales and marketing services to blue-chip corporations with ~7,600 and ~3,300 sales associates in Latin America and the Iberian peninsula, respectively.

Salesland's clients are active in Colombia, Peru, Chile, Mexico, Central America, the Iberian Peninsula and operate across a wide range of sectors including telecommunications, banking, insurance, power utilities, consumer electronics and food & beverage. Salesland has a unique platform that maximizes efficiencies across their sales cycles including sales force management, point of sale presence, remote sales, retail shops development, digital sales and brand consulting. Since its founding in 2000, Salesland has achieved yearly compounded growth in revenue of over 25%.

Miguel Artero, Founder and President of Salesland, said, "This is a very special year for Salesland, our 20^th Anniversary in the market and we believe a perfect time for such a relevant step. We are delighted to be partnering with ACON as this will reinforce our leading position offering sales and marketing services to our clients. Together with ACON, Salesland will continue growing in Latin America and will start our expansion strategy towards new markets such as the United States. In addition, we plan to grow our employee base and increase our service offerings to our customers."

As part of the transaction, Mr. Miguel Artero and the management team of Salesland will roll over a portion of their equity stake in the Company and will remain significant minority shareholders alongside ACON in a newly-formed holding company domiciled in Colombia.

"Salesland's international footprint, long-term customer relationships and differentiated service offering has made Salesland a reliable partner for companies seeking to reach potential consumers in the growing middle-class of Latin America," said José Miguel Knoell, Managing Partner of ACON. "We are excited to partner with Salesland's management team to accelerate future growth both organically and through accretive acquisitions in both Latin America and Europe."

Marcos Semmler, Partner of ACON Southern Europe Advisory, added, "Salesland has developed a comparative advantage in recruiting, training, retaining and motivating highly qualified sales associates that provide sales and customer relationship management services alongside a proprietary software platform. ACON's acquisition of Salesland demonstrates ACON's ability to source and negotiate attractive investments in businesses operating across Latin America by leveraging our presence in Madrid. Including Salesland, ACON's Madrid-based team is managing and has deployed over €100 million of equity over the last two years, consistent with ACON's strategy of investing in medium-sized businesses in the United States, Latin America and Europe."

GBS Finance and Deloitte Legal advised Salesland while Hogan Lovells advised ACON.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Salesland
Headquartered in Madrid, Spain and Bogotá, Colombia, Salesland provides a comprehensive menu of services that covers all areas of direct and indirect sales cycle primarily to corporate customers across Spain, Portugal and Latin America. In addition, the Company is also engaged in the selection and training of staff for its own projects, including specialized back office, designing and implementing online reporting tools as well as the development and application of new technologies.

About ACON Investments
ACON Investments, L.L.C. is a Washington, DC-based international private equity investment firm that manages private equity funds and special purpose partnerships that make investments in the United States, Latin America and Europe. Founded in 1996, ACON has responsibility for managing approximately $5.6 billion of capital. ACON has professionals in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Mexico City, São Paulo, Bogotá and Madrid. For more information, visit www.aconinvestments.com.

SOURCE ACON Investments, L.L.C.

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