Crédit Agricole Private Equity, Techfund and Sophia Euro Lab sell Miyowa to Synchronoss, world market leader in mobile data synchronisation technology

Crédit Agricole Private Equity, Techfund and Sophia Euro Lab have announced the sale of Miyowa, one of the leading providers of social networking and messaging software for mobile devices, to Synchronoss Technologies, Inc..

Synchronoss is world market leader in transaction management solutions, access to cloud services and mobility management for connected devices.

“Our platform enables devices to connect, sync and activate an expanding array of services from any mobile device. The acquisition of Miyowa expands our existing platform by adding powerful social networking connection capabilities. This makes our platform an even more powerful social address book as it is enhanced with the addition of the Miyowa product suite. We will therefore be able to deliver a unified and easy to use social networking experience for our customers,” comments Stephen G. Waldis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Synchronoss.

Headquartered in Marseille, France, Miyowa designs mobile applications based on connecting nomadic communities. The company, which has been working with Crédit Agricole Private Equity since 2008, has achieved very robust sales growth while also securing positive net margins. It currently has 72 employees. Miyowa’s clients include Orange, HTC, Samsung and ZTE. The company has formed partnerships with the world’s best known social networks and messaging providers, including Facebook, Twitter, Windows Live, Yahoo!, Gtalk and AIM, allowing it to use their APIs.

“We are extremely excited to become part of the Synchronoss team. Our relationships with leading European carriers like Orange, combined with the 100 million plus devices that Synchronoss enables in North America and Europe, uniquely positions us for expansion around the globe. The combining of Miyowa’s social networking connectivity with Synchronoss’s platform will enable both companies to capitalise on a number of the most powerful growth drivers in the technology industry – social, mobile and the cloud,” states Pascal Lorne, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Miyowa.

The purchase price of the acquisition is $45.5 million in cash. In addition, Synchronoss may pay up to an additional $13.5 million based on Miyowa’s business achieving certain performance targets over the next four quarters.

Michel de Lempdes, Investment Director at Crédit Agricole Private Equity, adds: “This strategic joining of forces constitutes a major opportunity for Miyowa. This is the result of four years’ work with Miyowa in its product development and international expansion, illustrating first and foremost that growth and profitability are necessary and essential to any major acquisition.”

“As an early investor in Miyowa, and having contributed to the company’s strategic decisions and international expansion, we welcome the merger with Synchronoss. This marks the start of a new era, and a wider roll-out of Miyowa’s solutions,” adds Pierre Taillardat, Chairman of Sophia Euro Lab.

Representatives

Crédit Agricole Private Equity
Michel de Lempdes, Investment Director, Venture Capital
François-Xavier Dedde, Investment Manager, Venture Capital

Techfund
Jean-Michel Barbier, Partner
Kurt Keilhacker, Partner
Françoise Lohezic, Partner

Sophia Euro Lab
Pierre Taillardat, Chairman

Sellers’ legal advisor
Jones Day (Renaud Bonnet, Jean-Gabriel Griboul, Remi Freon)

Sellers’ financial advisor
Ridgecrest Capital Partners (Joshua Rafner, Yaron Lipshitz)

Buyer’s legal advisor
Gunderson Dettmer (Jeffrey M. Engerman) and Salans (Pascal Chadenet)