Houlihan Lokey Advises Unit8

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Unit8 has received a minority partnership investment from Sagard NewGen.

Founded in 2017 by Dr. Marcin Pietrzyk and Michal Rachtan, Unit8 is a leading Swiss data services company with a mission to help its clients turn data into value with a mix of data science, analytics, and AI. Unit8 operates at the intersection of technology and business to accompany its customers at every step of their data and AI journey by offering an end-to-end portfolio of services, such as consulting and strategic advisory, data and AI solutions, data and AI platforms, data operations, and MLOps.

Headquartered in Lausanne and with offices in Zürich, Bern, Kraków, and Wroclaw, Unit8 employs more than 110 world-class data experts with previous experience at Apple, Amazon, Google, and Palantir. Unit8 was named the 2022 No.1 fastest-growing Swiss company by the Financial Times. The firm boasts technology partnerships with global leaders in data and AI tools/infrastructure and technologies, such as Microsoft (Gold Data platform partner), Palantir, and AWS. Its client track record includes delivering more than 130 data and AI projects to date as a trusted partner of leading European and Silicon Valley companies, such as Daimler, Firmenich, Merck, and other prominent institutions in finance, pharma and chemicals, and industry 4.0, etc. In 2022, the company is expected to grow its year-on-year revenue by more than 60% and this trend should continue as data analytics has become a vital aspect of major enterprises, as it assists organizations in managing, streamlining, and processing large datasets.

Unit8 continues to expand by gaining new clients across Europe and the US via the perpetuation of its existing and new upcoming high-value-added services. With the support of its new minority shareholder, Sagard NewGen, which brings significant experience across the tech sector along with an extensive commercial network and deep ecosystem in AI/ML, the aim is to fulfill a shared vision with the Unit8 management in building a leading European data, analytics, and AI consulting firm.

Houlihan Lokey was mandated for its strong track record and expertise in the IT services space. The firm served as the exclusive financial advisor to Unit8 and assisted management and shareholders throughout the transaction, including presentation and business plan preparation, due diligence process coordination, and transaction negotiations.

This deal highlights Houlihan Lokey's strong sector expertise in IT services. Other transactions include the sale of Cloudflight to Partners Group; the sale of a minority stake of OCI to Chequers; the acquisition of Valiantys by Keensight; and the investment in AdEx by Capvis, as well as the sale of Neudesic to IBM, among others.