Altius is a high growth enterprise data consultancy that helps companies harness their data and use it to drive improved business performance.
Simon, David and the team had built an impressive platform with market leading partnerships and an enviable portfolio of blue-chip clients. They were looking for a partner to exit angel investors who were no longer adding value and to help support Altius through its next phase of growth. MML invested for a minority equity stake with no debt in the structure to ensure the business was able to solely focus on investing for growth.
During our partnership with Simon and David, the business grew revenue by 42%, headcount from c.250 to c.355, and expanded into the Netherlands. MML also helped Altius develop annuity revenue streams through investing in internally generated IP. In late 2019, MML was approached off market by Avanade (a joint venture between Accenture 80% and Microsoft 20%) who ultimately acquired the business in early 2020. While this exit was earlier than anticipated, it became clear the transaction was highly strategic for Avanade, and it was the right home for both Altius’ people and its clients.
Fund | Partnership Capital |
Region | Europe |
Deal Status | Realised |
Sector | TMT |
Altius focuses on helping businesses use their data better. Most large enterprises want to use their data more but are hamstrung by it being in different places and formats. We help build the pipework that gets all of that data into the same format and in one place (usually the cloud). Once we’ve done that, we can then help do whizzy things like data science and sophisticated analytics with dashboards that can ultimately drive AI.
David (Kilpatrick) and I met at a previous technology consultancy. We wanted to start our own data focused consultancy when we came across Altius, which had been founded in 1993. Altius was slightly further along the journey, and it made sense to step into that business rather than start from scratch. Since then, and with the help of some angel investors, we scaled the business organically off the back of our cornerstone clients such as Whitbread and Rolls Royce and had reached a stage where we needed a proper partner to help take the business to the next level.
Bluntly, we liked the MML team the most - Luke, Amar and Will were the right cultural fit. We met several private equity houses, and it became clear that MML’s style is much more human - they do everything with a level of humanity and humility. Furthermore, with MML, the team that do the deal are the team you work with on an ongoing basis, which wasn’t the case with other houses.
For investors in MML Fund VI, MML Ireland I & MML Ireland II
For investors in MML Fund VII
