Crescent European Specialty Lending Announces Financing for VIA equity’s Strategic Partnership with Saarni Cloud

LONDON & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Crescent Capital Group LP, a leading alternative credit investment firm, announced today that its European Specialty Lending strategy provided unitranche financing to support VIA equity’s strategic partnership with Saarni Cloud, a Finland-based Software as a Service (SaaS) provider for human capital management. VIA equity, a leading Northern European private equity firm, acquired a minority stake to become the lead investor, with Saarni’s existing investor and current management team remaining committed to the business.

Based in Espoo, Finland and founded in 2017, Saarni Cloud’s suite of software products provide services for human resources management, employee skills and learning, workforce and time management, financial management and analytics, as well as business leadership and enterprise resource planning. Saarni Cloud’s customer network includes approximately 1,500 organizations with nearly half a million users across Finland and Northern Europe.

“Crescent is proud to support VIA equity’s strategic partnership with Saarni Cloud, which has developed a strong product portfolio, large and diversified customer base and strong market position in Finland. This transaction will help Saarni Cloud grow its business in Finland and expand to new international markets, while relying on its proven management team to further develop its workforce software products to become the go-to SaaS provider for organizations in its core markets,” said Christine Vanden Beukel, Managing Director and head of Crescent’s European Specialty Lending strategy. “This financing reflects Crescent's approach of collaborating with leading sponsors like VIA equity and innovative portfolio companies like Saarni Cloud to accelerate growth and help them achieve their business objectives.”

About Crescent Capital Group LP

Crescent is a global credit investment manager with $46 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2024. For over 30 years, the firm has focused on below investment grade credit through strategies that invest in marketable and privately originated debt securities including senior bank loans, high yield bonds, as well as private senior, unitranche and junior debt securities. Crescent is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago and London with more than 230 employees globally. Crescent is a part of SLC Management, the institutional alternatives and traditional asset management business of Sun Life. For more information about Crescent, visit www.crescentcap.com.

About Saarni Cloud

Founded in 2017, Saarni Cloud is a Finnish software group and a leader in the SaaS industry, specializing in personnel management, learning, time tracking, financial management, and analytics. These solutions are utilized by nearly half a million users across approximately 1,500 customer organizations in Finland and Northern Europe. The group employs over 160 experts in Espoo, Helsinki, Tampere, Oulu, and Hyvinkää. www.saarnicloud.com

About VIA equity

Headquartered in Copenhagen, VIA equity is a leading Northern European private equity firm investing in software and IT-service companies. VIA focuses on buyouts of profitable small to mid-sized companies in the Nordics and DACH regions. VIA equity manages five funds, where the most recent one alone has EUR 250m in committed capital from established international investors. www.viaequity.com