Riverside Marches To Another Deal

19 january 2013

Latest Acquisition Provides Military Simulation and Virtual Training Product

The Riverside Company has invested in Bohemia Interactive Simulations s.r.o. (Bohemia), the market leading innovator, developer and provider of games for training technology and interactive simulation systems sold to defense, emergency and mission-critical customers. Bohemia supplies the U.S. Department of Defense, UK Ministry of Defense, Australian Defense Force and a range of other international clients. Bohemia’s flagship product, Virtual Battle space 2 (VBS2) is the de-facto industry standard within its segment.

VBS2 (http://products.bisimulations.com) is a fully interactive, three-dimensional training and simulation system suitable for a wide range of military or commercial training and experimentation purposes, particularly for tactical training and mission rehearsal scenarios.

Bohemia was founded in 2001 in Australia, and has since 2007 been led by CEO Pete Morrison, who was previously a Captain in the Australian Army. In the army, Mr. Morrison was involved with delivering game-based training to soldiers as a part of mission rehearsal exercises for deployments to Iraq. Once retired from the armed forces, Mr. Morrison and Bohemia CTO, Dr. Mark Dzulko, saw tremendous growth opportunity in the simulation field, as the provision of high-quality training across a wide range of skills and scenarios was critical to the effectiveness of modern militaries. Together, they fostered an alliance with Bohemia Interactive Studio, the producer of the popular Arma series of entertainment games based on simulating military combat, and grew Bohemia as a joint venture.

Bohemia’s central sales offices are in the U.S., part of the Team Orlando area of excellence for military simulation technology. In addition, Bohemia has major sales and operations offices in the UK, Australia, Czech Republic, and, most recently, Poland, with plans for further international expansion.

“Riverside’s experience in the technology space, and our international structure and reach make us an ideal partner for Bohemia,” said Riverside Partner Dr. Martin Scott, who leads Riverside’s Software and IT specialization in Europe.

Riverside has completed more than 20 software investments, and has a dedicated team of experts in the technology field.

“Bohemia is leading the way in a technology segment which is already experiencing extremely strong and sustained growth, and will do so in the coming years,” said Scott. “VBS2 and the pipeline of innovations and products that Bohemia has are setting the standards in this dynamic space. These products and services are transforming the way in which military personnel are trained. Most importantly, the use of these training tools leads to saving lives.”

“We’re delighted about partnering with Riverside,” said Morrison. “Their global footprint and deep knowledge of the software industry will help us continue expanding and meeting the dynamic needs of our clients.”

Working with Scott on the transaction for Riverside were Principal Adam Pietruszkiewicz, Vice President Ludek Palata and Vice President Marcin Goszyk. Principal for Origination Tomasz Glowacki sourced the opportunity for Riverside.

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Clifford Chance LLP, KPMG UK and Czech, and Kordian Group LLC advised Riverside on the investment.

The Riverside Company
The Riverside Company is a global private equity firm focused on acquiring growing businesses valued at up to $200 million (€200 million in Europe). Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has invested in more than 300 transactions. The firm’s international portfolio includes more than 70 companies.