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MCI Capital ASI SAMCI Capital PE fund sells IAI Group to UK-based Montagu for approx. PLN 469.3 mln net
Polish private equity group MCI Capital has signed a preliminary conditional agreement with UK-based Montagu Private Equity for the sale of all shares in the IAI Group, which is the market leader in e-commerce software in Central and Eastern Europe. The net impact on the fund from the sale of the company's shares will amount to approximately PLN 469.3 million (EUR 110.3 mln), MCI said in a press release.
According to MCI Capital, this is one of the largest exits in MCI's history and another exit by the fund from investments in the technology sector.
"Our involvement in the IAI Group was a perfect example of the implementation of our investment strategy – through active support in organic growth and acquisitions, we managed to build a leader in the SaaS market for e-commerce in the Central and Eastern European region," said Tomasz Czechowicz, founder and managing partner of MCI, quoted in the press release.
"This is a successful example of ownership succession and good cooperation between the fund and the company's founders in terms of rapid value creation," he added.
MCI invested in the IAI Group in 2018, as it recognised the potential of the growing e-commerce market in Poland and the CEE region at that time. Another argument was IAI's strong position as a provider of comprehensive software for e-stores.
From the outset, the development plan included both organic growth and acquisitions.
In 2021, the IAI Group acquired ShopRenter, the market leader in Hungary, which marked the beginning of its international expansion. Two years later, in 2023, the company acquired a controlling stake in AtomStore, a Polish provider of solutions for larger online stores. This allowed the group to develop the enterprise customer segment.
As a result of these activities, the IAI Group became the largest provider of SaaS platforms for e-commerce in Poland in terms of GMV, handling over 10 percent of the total e-commerce market turnover in Poland.
During the MCI investment period, the IAI Group increased the scale of its operations nearly sixfold. The value of transactions handled by the platform (GMV) exceeded PLN 20 billion (EUR 4.7 bln) in 2024, and this year the group plans to achieve approximately PLN 300 million (EUR 70.5 mln) in revenue.
MCI, together with its advisors – PwC, DJM, Deloitte and CMS – began preparations for the company to start the process of exiting the investment in September 2024.
The transaction with Montagu Private Equity is subject to the fulfilment of conditions in the form of an antitrust procedure and a regulatory procedure related to the acquisition of control over a domestic payment institution from the company group. The deadline for the fulfilment of these conditions has been set for April 30, 2026.
The net impact on the MCI Capital fund from the sale of IAI Group shares will amount to approximately PLN 469.3 million (EUR 110.3 mln). The final price for the shares sold will be calculated and settled after the closing date of the transaction.
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