Hg has moved roughly €500mn of assets from its €19bn software group Visma into a new Luxembourg vehicle called Norvato, part of a tidy-up exercise ahead of a potential listing that's been delayed. About 30 smaller Visma subsidiaries were transferred, with Hg leading Norvato alongside private equity firm ICG.

Visma's long-awaited IPO, originally penciled in for early 2026, now isn't expected this year. The postponement reflects how the AI-driven sell-off in software stocks dubbed the SaaSpocalypse shut down European dealmaking. Hg took Visma private two decades ago for around £380mn and has since grown it into 170 businesses across 28 countries through acquisitions.

The spinout into Norvato was designed to streamline Visma before a public market debut. Hg had floated the IPO in 2023 but opted for another private transaction instead, valuing Visma at €19bn. With dealmaking in European software largely frozen, whatever Hg does next with Visma will carry real signals for the sector.