Hg today announces its investment in DADA S.p.A (DADA), a leading provider of online hosting services to SMEs in Italy, the UK and other regions across Europe.

Founded in 1995, DADA is headquartered in Florence and has around 650,000 business and consumer customers across Europe. DADA’s digital services enable SMEs to administer their online presence: creating, managing and hosting domains and websites.

As well as operating in Italy under the Register.it brand, DADA also operates in the UK, Ireland, Spain, France, Portugal and the Netherlands under the Namesco, Register365, Nominalia and Amen brands, respectively.

The process follows an initial investment for a majority stake of 69.432% in DADA, made by Hg’s technology team in October 2017 and acquired from a subsidiary of Orascom TMT Investments.

Hg has now successfully completed a tender offer on the remaining ordinary shares and will complete a public-to-private transaction of DADA from the Italian Stock Exchange.

Hg is one of the leading investors in the tech sector in Europe, with over 25 years’ experience in the sector and 37 investments made in technology companies, bringing together a unique collection of networks and insight to create value and support business success.

Nick Jordan, Partner at Hg said: “DADA is a leading business in this hosting sector which we have admired for a number of years. We are excited about the opportunity to work with the DADA management team and its employees to continue to develop their business in Italy and across Europe organically and through acquisitions. Hg have extensive experience of investing in SME-focused technology businesses and we are well placed to partner with DADA for the next phase of their growth.”

Enrico Grasso, Director at Hg said: “We are delighted to partner with DADA’s talented management team to continue to support Italian SMEs in their journey to become more digitally enabled and increase their online visibility. This is Hg’s third investment in Italy over the last two years, testament to our continued interest in the region and Italian businesses. Italy has an important fabric of small and medium enterprises that have unique skills, know-how, and an opportunity to grow internationally.”

Hg were advised by Linklaters, Banca IMI and Deloitte.