AMCS acquired by Swedish equity firm

Stockholm-based EQT Private Equity has acquired a majority stake in AMCS, a global software provider with a significant presence in the recycling sector.

AMCS, based in Ireland, supplies cloud-based and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled planning, performance, safety and sustainability-focused software for waste management, recycling and other resource-intensive industries.

Sweden-based EQT will invest from EQT X, its flagship private equity fund, and EQT Future, an “impact-driven, longer-hold fund.”

“On behalf of AMCS, I'd like to express our deepest gratitude to EQT for aligning with our vision of empowering sustainability for organizations globally and championing the circular economy,” AMCS co-founder and CEO Jimmy Martin says.

London-based Brady PLC had itself acquired longtime Ohio-based metals recycling software firm Systems Alternatives Inc. (SAI) in 2012, eventually rebranding it as Brady Recycling Solutions.

In 2018, the AMCS purchase of U.S.-based DesertMicro marked another step in its journey to serve the recycling sector by connecting with DesertMicro’s customer base of some 250 waste and recyclables hauling firms in North America.

In 2019, AMCS grew its recycling customer base in its home continent of Europe when it acquired Recy Systems AG of Germany. At that time, Recy Systems had 600 corporate customers in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America in the recycling and waste management sectors.

Its stake in AMCS will not be the first step into the recycling and waste arena for EQT. In 2021, the EQT Infrastructure fund purchased U.S.-based Covanta Holding Corp., a provider of waste-to-energy services. Earlier this year, Covanta rebranded as Reworld.

In 2022, North Carolina-based battery recycler Cirba Solutions received a $245 million minority investment from the EQT Infrastructure V fund.

“We have followed the progress of AMCS closely for many years and have been hugely impressed by what it has achieved, establishing itself as a clear market leader and delivering continuous innovation on behalf of its customers," EQT private equity partner Robert Maclean says regarding the investment. "We strongly believe that AMCS has a fantastic opportunity to further support the circular economy and drive a greater share of recycling within the waste industry.”

The former majority investor in AMCS had been New York-based Insight Partners.

“Since our initial investment in 2015, Insight has had the privilege of supporting AMCS as it scaled into a global market leader driving positive change towards a more circular economy," Insight Partners Managing Director Richard Wells says. "We look forward to deepening our support of AMCS, led by founder and CEO Jimmy Martin, in partnership with EQT as the business continues to innovate and grow.”

Companies involved in advising the parties in the transaction include William Blair & Co. as financial advisor to AMCS, Willkie Farr & Gallagher as legal counsel to Insight Partners, plus Arma Partners as financial advisor and Clifford Chance as legal counsel to EQT.

“The AMCS transaction underscores two trends we see in the market: importantly, the positive impact which software companies can make with their solutions to drive measurable sustainability improvement for resource intensive-industries; as well as the private equity industry’s expanding appetite to back both market leading software and sustainability platforms globally, and to do so with multiple capital strategies,” says Raphael Grunschlag, managing director in William Blair’s technology investment banking group and AMCS deal team lead.

AMCS provides services and technology designed to deliver increased performance and efficiency in its customers’ operations, while also supporting them to deliver on their sustainability goals and meet regulatory requirements. It has more than 1,300 employees in Europe, North America and Australasia helping serve more than 3,800 customers operating more than 700,000 vehicles in 80 countries.