May 28, 2025

Barings supports Main Capital’s acquisition of Trace One

Barings, one of the world’s leading investment managers, today announced its role as sole lender in providing senior secured credit facilities to support Main Capital (“Main”) in their acquisition of Trace One, a premier SaaS leader in Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and compliance software, from its previous principal owner, STG.

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Paris, Trace One has emerged as a clear category leader in delivering innovative PLM and compliance solutions tailored to the food & beverage, cosmetics & personal care, and chemical industries. Trusted by over 9,000 global brands, including industry giants such as Carrefour, Cargill, Barilla, Nestlé, and Ahold Delhaize; Trace One’s robust platform simplifies complexity, enhances collaboration, and optimizes every phase of the product lifecycle, from ideation to market launch.

Under STG’s ownership, Trace One achieved impressive international expansion, highlighted by the strategic milestone acquisition of Selerant in March 2022. In the next chapter of growth, Main Capital and Trace One will collaborate to further elevate the company’s global presence, deepen expertise in existing markets, explore new industry verticals, and expand their product suite with innovative, complementary solutions.

“We are delighted to support Main Capital in their inaugural platform investment in France. We have been impressed by Trace One’s strong performance and international expansion under STG’s ownership. The transaction highlights Barings’ ability to support mid-market businesses throughout multiple ownerships and the strength of our transatlantic Sponsor relationships, reinforcing our commitment to long term value creation. We are grateful for Main Capital and Trace One’s management’s renewed trust and look forward to contributing to its next stage of growth.” Antoine Gosselin-Mercury, Senior Director, Global Private Credit at Barings.

About Barings
Barings is a $442+ billion* global asset management firm that partners with institutional, insurance, and intermediary clients, and supports leading businesses with flexible financing solutions. The firm, a subsidiary of MassMutual, seeks to deliver excess returns by leveraging its global scale and capabilities across public and private markets in fixed income, real assets and capital solutions.

*As of March 31, 2025

About Main Capital Partners
Main Capital Partners is a leading software investor in the Benelux, DACH, France, the Nordics, and the United States with approximately EUR 6 billion in Assets under Management. Main has over 20 years of experience in strengthening software companies and works closely with the management teams in its portfolio as a strategic partner to achieve profitable growth and larger outstanding software groups. As a leading software investor managing private equity funds active in Northwestern Europe and North America, Main has 90 employees operating out of its offices in The Hague, Düsseldorf, Stockholm, Antwerp, Paris, and an affiliated office in Boston. Main maintains an active portfolio of over 50 software companies. The underlying portfolio employs over 15,000 employees. Through its Main Social Institute, Main supports students with grants and scholarships to study IT and Computer Science at Technical Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences.

For more information, please visit https://main.nl/

Media Contacts
Barings@secnewgate.co.uk / Mediarelations@barings.com

Important Information

The document is for informational purposes only and is not an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument or service in any jurisdiction. The material herein was prepared without any consideration of the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of anyone who may receive it. This document is not, and must not be treated as, investment advice, an investment recommendation, investment research, or a recommendation about the suitability or appropriateness of any security, commodity, investment, or particular investment strategy, and must not be construed as a projection or prediction.

In making an investment decision, prospective investors must rely on their own examination of the merits and risks involved and before making any investment decision, it is recommended that prospective investors seek independent investment, legal, tax, accounting or other professional advice as appropriate.

Unless otherwise mentioned, the views contained in this document are those of Barings. These views are made in good faith in relation to the facts known at the time of preparation and are subject to change without notice. Individual portfolio management teams may hold different views than the views expressed herein and may make different investment decisions for different clients. Parts of this document may be based on information received from sources we believe to be reliable. Although every effort is taken to ensure that the information contained in this document is accurate, Barings makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information.

This document is issued in Australia by Barings Australia Pty Ltd.