Infront becomes leading European financial market solutions provider with
successful completion of vwd Group acquisition

Oslo, 17 July 2019 — Reference is made to the previously announced agreement by
Infront ASA (“Infront”) to acquire 100% of the shares in vwd Group GmbH (“VWD”).
Infront today completed the acquisition of VWD from a fund managed by The
Carlyle Group (Carlyle) to create the leading European financial market
solutions provider. 
“We are now a top 3 provider of financial terminals in Europe and have delivered
on one of the key ambitions we communicated at the time of our IPO in late
2017,” said Kristian Nesbak, the CEO and co-founder of Infront. “By combining
the two businesses, we are establishing an even stronger platform for innovation
and future growth in Europe and international markets.” 

With the acquisition, Infront expands its offering and market share, becoming a
full-service provider of real-time market information and portfolio management
solutions to financial professionals in Europe with approximately 3,600
diversified customers and over 90,000 professional users. The 2018 revenue for
the combined company exceeded NOK 1.06 billion and adjusted EBITDA was
approximately NOK 170 million, before estimated initial cost savings of NOK 25
million from consolidating data feeds and licenses expected to be realised
within a year. Additional cost savings are expected from operational
efficiencies and scaling effects. 

“Infront and VWD are highly complementary businesses in terms of users, products
and geographical strongholds, and together we will reach an even wider customer
base, explore significant cross- and upsell opportunities and capture cost
synergies from consolidating data feeds and other efficiencies,” said Nesbak.
“We will continuously invest in developing our products including our real-time
financial market data, analytics and trading platform, portfolio and advisory
solutions, regulatory and costing solutions, as well as publication and
distribution solutions to position for further growth.” 

The final purchase price was ca. EUR 130 million on an enterprise value basis
financed through the issue of a four-year EUR 105 million bond in April and a
NOK 240 million rights issue that was completed in June. 
ABG Sundal Collier acted as financial adviser to Infront for the acquisition and
ABG Sundal Collier and Danske Bank were the financial advisers for the
financing. Selmer acted as Norwegian legal advisor to Infront and Bird & Bird
acted as German legal advisor to Infront. RaymondJames was financial adviser to
The Carlyle Group. 

For more information please contact:
Kristian Nesbak, CEO Infront
kristian.nesbak@infrontfinance.com 

Max Hofer, CFO Infront
max.hofer@infrontfinance.com
+47 971 48 953

About Infront
Infront provides a unique combination of global market data, news, analytics and
trading tools. With over 20 years of product development driven by our clients’
business needs, the Infront Professional Terminal is the most user-friendly and
flexible terminal in the financial market. We help buy-side and sell-side
institutions grow their businesses, reduce costs, adapt to fast changing market
requirements and work more effectively with ever-increasing amounts of
information. Over 40,000 professional subscribers worldwide rely on Infront’s
services. Infront is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and has offices in eight
countries across Europe and South Africa. 

About VWD
vwd is a leading Europe-wide provider of information and IT solutions for the
investment industry. As an agile solutions provider, we respond flexibly to
regulatory requirements. We make your financial decisions smarter – thanks to
our comprehensive range of solutions. As a full-service provider, we optimise
processes to maximise our customers’ success. The development of our innovative
products is built on decades of experience, market expertise and the right feel
for the needs of our customers.

Important information

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section
5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. This announcement is not an offer
for sale of securities in the United States or any other country. The securities
referred to herein have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of
1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), and may not be sold in the United
States absent registration or pursuant to an exemption from registration under
the U.S. Securities Act. Certain statements included within this announcement
contain forward-looking information, including, without limitation, those
relating to) forecasts, projections and estimates, statements of management's
plans, objectives and strategies for the Company, such as planned expansions,
investments or other projects, management, as well as statements preceded by
"expected", "scheduled", "targeted", "planned", "proposed", "intended" or
similar statements. Although Infront believes that the expectations reflected in
such forward-looking statements are reasonable, these forward-looking statements
are based on a number of assumptions and forecasts that, by their nature,
involve risk and uncertainty. Various factors could cause our actual results to
differ materially from those projected in a forward-looking statement or affect
the extent to which a particular projection is realized. No assurance can be
given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Infront disclaims
any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.