Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) is advising CVC Growth, part of one of the world’s leading private equity and investment advisory firms, on CVC Growth Fund’s investment of approximately €200 million to acquire a significant minority stake in TOPdesk, an IT service desk platform.

This investment marks a pivotal moment in TOPdesk’s history, as it represents the first instance of external capital infusion for the business, which has remained under the majority ownership of its founders. CVC Growth Funds’ investment is expected to close in the first half of 2024, subject to certain regulatory clearances and employee representative bodies’ advice.

Started by CEO and co-founder Wolter Smit in the nineties in Delft in the Netherlands, TOPdesk has a phenomenal growth story to tell, now with over 10 million active users on its platform, 14 offices operating across 11 countries and with over 1,000 employees worldwide. CVC will collaborate with Wolter Smit and CFO Rob Haaring to expedite the business’ growth and further its development.

The Freshfields team is being led by partners Charles Hayes, Menno Verboom and Alex Mitchell and senior associates Evelyn Bradley, Hannah Turton and Terence Ayres and associates Zoe Walker and Lasse de Vooght, with support from a team across the Freshfields network including partners Tom McGrath, Brechje Nollen, Stephanie Brown Cripps and Eelco Van Der Stok.