Conztanz announces €2 Million funding led by A Plus Finance and Pléiade Venture to finance its growth

Conztanz, a software editor in the Aviation sector, has completed its first fundraising of €2 Million with A Plus Finance and Pléiade Venture to finance its R&D activity and business development.

 Created in July 2013 and located in Sophia-Antipolis in the heart of the French Silicon Valley, Conztanz intends to respond to complex IT problems of the airline industry by offering a wide range of software and services. The three founders created Conztanz at the end of 2012 when they realized that airlines and airports lack a greater knowledge of their travellers’ experience and are missing the opportunities provided by new technologies (e.g. Big Data and new generation data integration tools).

Indeed, customer knowledge is key to improve profitability of all business services. In a particularly competitive world, loyalty issues, customization and increased revenues per passenger have become a top priority for airlines. But the information systems of airlines and airports are generally very complex and heterogeneous. They are built by the expensive juxtaposition of software without standard connectors, which create serious integration problems that are now at the heart of their concerns.

 Conztanz's ambition is to provide airlines the tools to give them greater control over their digital strategy. By providing access to their data on the combined knowledge of their customers and their travel experience, the connections facilitated within the company as well as those between different datatbases and systems, Conztanz will enable them to improve profitability.

 The solutions provided by Conztanz software are also intended for the airport sector. The contribution of IT solutions is also key to meet the demands of a growing security framework (for example, passenger identification) and to optimize the "traveller journey”: reducing check-in time with automatic bag-drop machines, maximizing monetization of time spent within the airport, sending targeted commercial offers and personalized information in real time, etc.

  Conztanz' offer is structured around:

• ConztanzONE: a new generation integration platform for airlines. It facilitates the connection of different systems and centralizes all of their data in order to promote innovation in passenger services.

For more information, please visit: http://www.conztanz.com/conztanzone-airline-integration-platform/

 • ONEapps: a marketplace for innovative airlines solutions powered by ConztanzONE. It contains applications for personalization services (CXMapp), business intelligence (BIapp), improved service on board (CREWapp) and more.

For more information, please visit: http://www.conztanz.com/airline-solution-marketplace/

This capital increase of €2 million, led by A Plus Finance and Venture Pleiades, will enable Conztanz to accelerate its investments in R&D, critical to accelerate its growth. In 2014, Conztanz posted a turnover of €2 million.

 Bertrand Kientz, CEO of Conztanz, said: ‘This first round just two years after the creation of Conztanz reflects the confidence of A Plus Finance and Venture Pleiades. It allows us to take another very important step. We can continue to develop at a rapid pace our integration platform and innovative applications. Designed for airlines and airports, they will allow enhqncement and customization of the service provided to travellers. The entire Conztanz team is fully mobilized to achieve the ambitious goals we have set to ourselves in becoming a key technology partner for the travel industry’.

 The first milestone will be to continue the development of the platform for multi-service IT integration between the passenger service systems (PSS) and CRM systems for airlines and airports. Conztanz is also building a contextual marketing component (CXMapp) which, based on the reservation data, check-in data and sometimes unfortunate experiences, can profile customers in real time and enable personalized interaction.

 The management of the company is composed of three founders, all IT & Aviation sector experts: Bertrand Kientz (CEO), Jean-Paul Camous (CTO) and Guy Vermeil (COO) who each behold proven experience at Air France, Amadeus or JC Decaux. Conztanz now employs about twenty employees, of which over 80% are IT engineers, and its customers include Luxair, CityJet, Braathens Aviation and Brussels Airlines. Conztanz also participates in the French PNR database project which aims to establish traceability of travellers coming to French territory.

 Alexandre Villet, Investments Director at A Plus Finance, added: ‘We are very excited to support Conztanz in its development. The experience of Bertrand Kientz and its teams and their understanding of the needs of players in this high-growth sector have been fundamental to our decision to invest’.

 Laurent Vernier, Investments Director at Pléiade Venture states: ‘The functional expertise of Conztanz Engineers and the international network of its leaders should quickly make a key player in the global aviation industry because of the relevance of the solutions’.

Locked-in Co-op Bank shareholders to be offered share liquidity; Asset Match to host share auction as anticipated IPO is put on hold

Asset Match, the online marketplace to buy and sell shares in UK unquoted companies, announces today that it will be holding a share auction for Co-operative Bank equity investors.  The auction will be the first time shareholders and potential investors can buy and sell shares in transparent forum since the bank’s junior bondholders converted their assets from debt instruments into equity shares in late 2013. The auction will open on 10th September 2015 and will close at 4pm on 17th September 2015.

The Co-operative Bank currently has a large number of equity shareholders in nominee names with an aggregate interest of just under 80% of the company’s entire issued share capital.  While much of the focus to date has been on Hedge Funds, there are many private investors held within those nominee accounts that are unable, or would find it extremely difficult, to realise their assets.

Iain Baillie, co-CEO of Asset Match, said: “We have been contacted by a number of private client shareholders asking us if we can assist and the fact that the Co-operative Bank’s shares are freely transferable and CREST enabled make an auction possible.  With the Bank’s expected IPO currently on hold until its turnaround is further advanced, we are pleased that Asset Match will be able to provide a solution to shareholder liquidity while the bank remains private.”

How the Co-operative Bank share auction works

1.       Current shareholders and prospective investors will need to register on the Asset Match website.

2.       Once registered participants, through The Share Centre, will be able to place buy and sell limit orders when the auction opens on 10th September 2015. During the week long period of the auction buyers and sellers are able to monitor progress and are able adjust their bids and offers accordingly.

3.       At the close of the auction a non-discretionary algorithm determines the final auction price and the number of shares that will trade. The indicative closing price is visible throughout the auction.

4.       Subject to any demand or supply constraints, buyers with bids higher than or equal to the final price will be successful and sellers with offers lower than or equal to the final price will be successful.

5.       All successful buy and sell orders are transacted at the same price.

Providing shareholder liquidity is a common problem shared by many private companies.  Asset Match aims to address this by giving companies and their investors an alternative liquidity strategy to a trade sale or IPO, or in the lead time to one of these ‘events’.  The online trading platform hosts regular auctions on behalf of companies or at the request of their shareholders.  Unquoted companies that have had their shares traded on Asset Match include the UK’s leading IFA wrap service company, Integrafin, and Scottish craft brewery, Brewdog.

“The auction process, and the algorithm that calculates the closing price, is a fantastic way to re-introduce some visible liquidity,” Iain Baillie continued. “By creating an ‘event’ we are bringing investors together so that they can buy and sell shares in a fair and transparent way.  Without this auction it would very difficult for the Co-operative Bank’s private shareholders to sell their shares at all, let alone at a market derived price.”

For further information about the Asset Match Co-operative Bank share auction, terms and conditions and fees please visit www.assetmatch.com.

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS PREDICT GROWTH OF SME ASSET BACKED SECURITISATIONS

• 69% of institutional investors predict increased issuance of SME ABS
• Property finance, trade finance, leasing and bridging finance most popular SME cash flow assets to securitise
• Amicus completed a £100m short-term mortgage-backed securitisation last week

As traditional bank lending to small and medium sized enterprises continues to remain constrained, a new study reveals that seven in ten (69%) European institutional investors believe there will be an increase in the issuance of SME finance-related asset backed securitisations (ABS) over the next two years.

 The research was commissioned by Amicus Finance Plc (“Amicus”), a leading specialist in short term lending solutions which last week completed a £100m short-term mortgage-backed securitisation. The study showed that three-quarters (73%) of institutions believe there will be growing appetite for investing in securitisations providing access to SMEs’ underlying cash flow assets.

 Investor types most attracted to SME securitisations are likely to be insurance companies, private sector pension funds followed by private equity investors and hedge funds, according to the study.

 When asked to identify which cash flow assets will be most in demand among institutions, 53% of investors selected traditional property finance, closely followed by trade finance (52%), leasing (44%) and property bridging finance (44%).

 Given the continued high demand for property bridging finance spurred on by the buy-to-let market, 60% of investors anticipate growth in demand for short term syndication of this debt through bond issuance.

 John Jenkins, CEO of Amicus commented: “Investors are clearly bullish about the prospects of the SME securitisation market and this is welcome news to specialist lenders such as Amicus which last week completed a £100m short-term mortgage-backed securitisation to broaden our funding sources. 

 “Many long term investors see the attractions of accessing the rapidly growing non-bank SME lending sector and with greater standardisation and transparency we are likely to see greater numbers of securitisations coming to the market.”

 Amicus’ first £100m short-term UK MBS (mortgage-backed security), Amicus Mortgage Finance 2015-1, is a regulated non-rated entity with a scheduled maturity  of July 2018, comprising a portfolio of quality short term loans with a weighted average loan to value of 60%; the term of the loans ranges from 6-18 months.

 Amicus offers short term, property-based lending solutions to private and corporate borrowers, which include landlords, developers and owner-occupiers.