Ciklum acquires CN Group from Genesis Capital to expand its European presence

By Stanislav Sokolov, PR Lead at Ciklum

[London, 31 Aug 2021]. Ciklum, a global product engineering and digital services company, today announced its acquisition of CN Group, a Czech-based software development firm from Genesis Capital, one of the leading CEE private equity funds. With the acquisition deal, Genesis Capital, who invested in CN Group in 2019, has sold 100% of its shareholding to Ciklum.

The deal will facilitate Ciklum’s ambitious growth plans in the CEE and DACH markets.

As a leading global product engineering and digital services company, Ciklum helps enterprises design and optimize their businesses for innovation, leveraging emerging technologies. Ciklum works with leading brands across 30+ countries, and the combination with CN Group will continue to expand Ciklum’s capabilities in Central Europe, providing high-end delivery and technology solutions that inspire customers to pursue their potential.

CN Group is headquartered in Prague, with five nearshore delivery locations in central Europe. The company’s 360 digital technology specialists will become a powerful addition to the Ciklum team of more than 3,500 engineers, designers, product managers and data scientists across the globe.

CN Group has been delivering software engineering, IT consulting and mechanical design engineering for over 27 years. The company serves 62 international customers, including Procter & Gamble, Strabag, TF Bank, Bunte.de and FlatexDEGIRO, across more than 7 markets.

“CN Group was acquired by Genesis Capital from the founders in 2019 in a succession-driven MBO. Over the last 2.5 years Genesis Capital together with the management team led by Michal Širica has achieved outstanding levels of revenue and profitability, increasing both several-fold. We are deeply proud of what has been achieved at CN Group since our investment and wish the team continued success,” said Martin Viliš, Partner at Genesis Capital responsible for this project.

The combination of CN Group and Ciklum will build on each company’s long history of delivering high-impact products and platforms to clients across Europe and North America, while opening new fields of opportunity for both. With Delivery across Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and Spain, supported by a best-in-class employee culture and learning environment for engineering talent, the united companies will represent one of the largest digital transformation providers in the CEE region with global reach.

“CN Group underwent an intense journey of dynamic development over the last 2.5 years, transforming from a founder-based business into a modern and well-diversified IT organization. This would not have been possible without the support of a strong capital partner we found in Genesis Capital,” said Michal Širica, CEO, CN Group. “Becoming part of Ciklum is a natural step in our development and I am looking forward to an even brighter future ahead”, he concluded.

About Ciklum

Ciklum (www.ciklum.com) is a leading global product engineering and digital services company, serving Fortune 500 and fast-growing organisations. Headquartered in the UK, Ciklum has 3,500+ software developers, designers, product managers and data scientists around the world building tailored digital solutions that leverage emerging technologies. Ciklum specialises in enabling digital transformation for some of the largest household names in the digital economy. The Company empowers its clients and people to exceed their potential and pursue the extraordinary.

About Genesis Capital

Genesis Capital is a private equity group offering financing for growth and development to small and medium companies in Central Europe. Since its foundation in 1999, Genesis Capital has advised six private equity funds with a total volume exceeding EUR 300 million which have already supported more than 60 companies. The investors into Genesis Capital funds include renowned institutions. For more information, please visit: www.genesis.cz/en

About CN Group

With its professional engineering teams in the Czech and Slovak Republics and Romania, CN Group is a leader in nearshore agile software development. The company also offers IT Management Consulting services and QA/Testing services to clients, with focus areas including Finance, Transport, Logistics, Publishing, Telecoms, e-commerce, Embedded and Healthcare.