London-based private equity and venture capital specialist Nova Capital Management has acquired a 10.4% shareholding in BIW Technologies. The shareholding has been acquired by NovaVest Fund 1 LP, a fund managed by Nova Capital Management and backed by HarbourVest Partners LLC.

Through this transaction, Nova Capital’s joint head of ventures, David Tate – formerly head of investments and an executive director at WestLB Panmure – saw an opportunity to re-ignite his involvement with BIW Technologies.

“Having been involved with BIW since 2000, I have seen how the management team have built a business from scratch into a significant player in the emergent market for collaboration software in the AEC vertical,” says Tate. “With independent research confirming BIW’s market leadership, I believe the company is poised to make great strides forward and I am therefore delighted to renew my association with the team. I am confident that NovaVest can make a significant contribution to the next phase of BIW’s development.”

- ends -

Notes to editors:

• Project collaboration services from BIW Technologies (www.biwtech.com) were first employed in 1999 on UK construction projects for Sainsbury’s. BIW believes it is the European leader in web-based collaboration systems for the construction and property industry, measured by numbers of users, usage and volume of data. Independent research by e-business consultancy Compagnia (published in mid-2003) confirmed BIW’s market leadership, giving it a 26.4% share of the UK market.
• BIW Information Channel is a sophisticated web-based supply chain integration technology, designed specifically for construction projects or programmes. Each client is provided with a unique, project or programme-specific website created around a knowledge database. With this, data can be made available securely to every team member – from the earliest concepts, through detailed design, buildability studies, pre-fabrication, construction, maintenance, operation and improvement to the eventual demolition or dismantling of the facility.
• At 31 August 2004, the total number of BIW Information Channel users had reached 36,380, from 3970 different companies. Collectively, these users had logged in 5.2 million times, to work on over 2000 projects with a total capital value estimated at around £15 billion.
• BIW customers include United Utilities, Sainsbury’s, BAA, housebuilders Crest Nicholson and the Peabody Trust, Marks & Spencer, the Ministry of Defence, the Wellcome Trust, O2, Mace, Bovis Lend Lease, Kajima, Gleeds and developers Stanhope, Land Securities and Garbe.
• BIW’s current management team took over the business at the start of 2000, and in addition to initial funding from private investors, secured £2.5 million investment from institutional sources.
• Nova Capital Management Ltd is a specialised fund management company formed in 2002. It acquires portfolios of private equity and venture capital assets and has a focus on building value in and realising such portfolios. Caledonia Investments plc is a strategic investor in Nova Capital Management. See www.nova-cap.com.
• HarbourVest Partners, LLC is a global private equity investment firm and registered investment advisor, providing vehicles for institutional investors to invest in the venture capital and buyout markets in the US, Europe, and elsewhere through primary partnerships, secondary purchases, and direct investments. See www.harbourvest.com.
• David Tate joined Nova in January 2004 to lead its activities in the venture market. He was previously at WestLB Panmure where he was responsible for sponsoring and managing investments in a ‘captive’ fund. Before WestLB Panmure, he spent over 15 years in investment banking, first at BZW and then at WestLB Group handling over 50 significant transactions in a variety of jurisdictions including emerging and developed markets.
• BIW and BIW Information Channel are registered trademarks or trademarks of BIW Technologies Ltd.

  More information from:
  Paul Wilkinson, BIW Technologies Ltd
  T: 0845 1300 800
  W: http://www.biwtech.com