August 28, 2025
Although it may feel like the end of a story, it’s far from over. The sale of a majority stake in the Czech‑Canadian Adastra Group by its founders—Jan Mrázek, Petr Jech, and Jan Červinka—to the U.S. investment firm Carlyle marks the close of just one chapter. A new one is already beginning.
“We believe there’s still a long journey ahead with Adastra—one that leads to the stars. That’s why we were looking for both a boost and an outside perspective,” says Jan Mrázek, one of Adastra Group’s founders and a key driving force, in an in‑depth interview with Forbes.
Originally from the Czech Republic, Mrázek emigrated from Czechoslovakia in the 1980s, passing through Germany before settling in Canada. There, he rose to a leadership role at the Bank of Montreal, focusing on banking IT systems. But his entrepreneurial spirit prevailed, and around the turn of the millennium, he co‑founded the business intelligence firm Adastra with Červinka and Jech. Over the past decade, the company has fully pivoted to cloud services and artificial intelligence.
Now operating across three continents, the group was put up for sale two years ago by the founders—who have now joined the ranks of Czech billionaires as a result of the deal. The decision followed shortly after they sold a minority stake in their other company, Ataccama.
“We were drawn to Carlyle in part because of our positive experience with Bain Capital’s entry into Ataccama,” explains Mrázek, who will remain a minority shareholder in Adastra and join its board of directors.
The financial details of the transaction, including the exact share Carlyle acquired, remain confidential under commercial agreements.
“If we had gone to market with Adastra three years ago, the terms would undoubtedly have been slightly better,” Mrázek admits. Yet, sitting in Adastra’s Prague headquarters in Karlín, he makes no effort to hide his satisfaction with the outcome. Media reports estimate the deal at roughly CZK 10 billion.
Given the current momentum behind AI, Mrázek sees significantly greater potential for rapid valuation growth ahead: “I believe that in the end, our minority stake will be worth more than what we received today.”
In this interview, you’ll learn how Adastra Group plans to grow in the coming years, how artificial intelligence is reshaping both the labour market and company valuations, and why another deal may soon be on the horizon for Ataccama—where the founders still hold a majority stake.
We’re speaking on the very day you and your partners, Jan Červinka and Petr Jech, announced the sale of a majority stake in Adastra. You were the driving force behind the company’s founding—can we consider it your ‘child’? How are you feeling now that it’s public?
It’s definitely our shared child—we all breathed life into it. And it’s not our only one. We also have Ataccama, where we went through a similar process three years ago. The difference is, that time we sold a minority stake. With Adastra, it’s a majority stake this time.
In any case, it’s a major milestone. There’s also a sense of relief—after all the calls, negotiations, thinking, and analysis, that phase is behind us. Now we can focus more clearly on shaping the company’s future.
So, you’re not feeling any major euphoria?
Of course, it feels good. I’d compare it to a young person graduating or passing a dreaded exam. The pressure lifts, there’s a brief moment of euphoria—but it doesn’t last long. Before you know it, you’re already thinking about what’s next.
That said, if I had passed away still owning Adastra, I would’ve been at peace with that too.
What are you thinking about now?
I’m glad we can continue to be involved with Adastra in some form. My partners Honza and Petr nominated me to the supervisory board, so I’ll be physically sitting on the board.
There, I’ll help safeguard our shared interests and also have some influence over the group’s strategic direction. I’m also looking forward to working with Carlyle. That’s what motivates me now. As I said, this is a milestone—but we’re still moving forward. It’s like finishing your bachelor’s and staying on for your master’s—that’s the best way I can describe it.
So, you’re not packing up your office?
Not at all. In fact, we haven’t had private offices here for years. We’re used to working from shared spaces—same in Canada and Germany. No one’s taking away our access badges, and we’ll still have our spots in the underground garage.
For me, coming to the office is a way to stay connected to the people and the company—it’s something I genuinely enjoy. And right now, I’m curious to see where the whole group can go. Adastra isn’t just a career for me—it’s a part of my life.
And you still want to live that life?
At a high level, yes. The world is evolving so fast that I’ve long stopped trying to keep up with every technical detail. But I still maintain a broad, global overview.
And when I’m able to offer advice grounded in decades of experience, that still brings value.
Let’s go back to the billion-crown transaction—the sale of Adastra. You didn’t sell 100 % of the company, correct?
We kept a solid minority stake—otherwise, they might’ve taken our access cards away. (laughs)
How large is the stake?
I can’t disclose the exact number, but I can say we had to fight hard for the share all three of us agreed on.
Did you manage to keep the stake you originally aimed for, or was there a compromise?
We reached exactly the level we originally aligned on—all three of us.
You described the whole transaction as a kind of marriage.
Yes. Between us and Carlyle—it was a wedding of sorts. We signed the agreement last Sunday, just like newlyweds sign their marriage license. But as with a wedding, the celebration doesn’t begin until later—the formalities need to be completed first.
That’s the stage we’re in now. We’re awaiting regulatory approval, which should take about three to four months. Once that clears, the ownership transfer will take place. Carlyle will take a solid majority, and we’ll retain a meaningful minority.
The “courtship” took nearly a year?
It did. The due diligence process was also lengthy, partly because we ran it in two parallel streams—we had two interested buyers until the very end. Each diligence process was slightly different, depending on the advisory firms involved. They all ultimately ask the same questions, but often in slightly different ways.
They thoroughly assessed our history to understand what we do, how we do it, our market standing, financials, and overall positioning. But in the end, investors don’t buy a company for what it’s been, they buy it for what it can become.
They expect at least a 2.5x return on their investment over a five-to-seven-year horizon. That’s the goal—and the fact that they made this deal is a strong vote of confidence in our future potential.
The entire transaction is, for us as founders, a clear confirmation that this potential truly exists.
What was it specifically about Carlyle that impressed you as founders?
Primarily, it was our belief in the value of future collaboration.
We chose Carlyle in part because of our positive experience with Bain Capital’s investment in Ataccama. Carlyle has a similar approach—just on a significantly larger scale; they’re about three times the size of Bain. And our experience with Bain has been excellent—they’re deeply embedded in the market, analytical, and provide invaluable input that’s helped Ataccama grow.
We expect a similar partnership with Carlyle. The working style and philosophy are closely aligned.
So, selling Adastra to a major global IT group was never on the table?
It was one of the options. But for us, the key criterion was to avoid being absorbed into a larger structure where Adastra would be diluted and disappear within a few years. That might have made financial sense, but it wasn’t aligned with what we wanted.
We believe there’s still a journey ahead with Adastra—and that’s why we were looking for a boost and an outside perspective, as I mentioned earlier.
You’re not considering retirement or slowing down?
Maybe stepping into the background, a bit—but none of us are heading into retirement. We’re all still very active in different areas.
Personally, my schedule is still quite full. Not like twenty years ago when five hours of sleep was enough (now, I allow myself eight) but I still have a lot of meetings and work on my plate.
Did you time the Adastra sale well? Is now a good time to sell a company like yours?
From a valuation perspective, the peak for companies in cloud and AI—Adastra’s world—was probably around three years ago. If we’d gone to market then, the deal would’ve likely been slightly better.
That said, today’s market is still far from bad.
What influenced the price during negotiations?
Three main factors—two external, one internal.
The first external factor was geopolitical. The U.S. was going through presidential elections, and there were looming tariff threats. That made investors nervous—they couldn’t predict what would happen next. Combined with ongoing military conflicts, this uncertainty led to hesitation. Every bit of instability impacts investment confidence.
The second external factor was the shift in the AI and cloud market. ChatGPT entered the scene and changed everything. It’s reshaping the entire productivity landscape. What was previously growing at a steady 10 % per year is now on the brink of exponential acceleration.
And someone has to build that AI—design it, write it, implement it. That’s exactly what Adastra does. We’ve been in this space for years. We’re well-established, properly licensed, and the investors see that we’re positioned for what’s coming.
What kind of shape was the company in when you handed it over, and what’s its growth potential?
We report our financials in Canadian dollars. Group revenues were around CAD 330 million—roughly CZK 5 billion. Carlyle’s goal is to triple the size of the group within five years. So how do we plan to get there?
Our strategy places greater emphasis on the U.S. and German markets. While we already operate in the U.S. and have been growing steadily, we only entered the market three or four years ago, starting from zero. Our plan is to aggressively expand there, targeting annual growth of 50 % or more with a focus on building long-term, stable contracts.
Presence in the U.S. significantly boosts a company’s valuation. Every revenue dollar from the U.S. contributes more to valuation than revenue from any other market.
We’re expecting accelerated growth across these key markets, built on high-impact cloud and AI solutions with strong added value.
Had you waited a little longer, could the deal have been worth more?
Possibly, yes.
And if that growth doesn’t fully materialize—where else do you see opportunity?
There’s something happening in our sector that explains why companies like Adastra have become far more attractive to investors than they were not long ago. Technology is evolving, and AI is driving a massive boost in productivity. At this point, it’s all about how quickly you can pivot and operationalize the productivity potential these technologies enable.
How does that relate to valuation?
Directly. This trend is starting to show in company valuations. We’re developing AI agents, frameworks, and support tools that can learn and think autonomously—solutions that accelerate our delivery without requiring linear growth in headcount, as was previously the norm.
With rising demand, this creates potential for exponential growth.
Valuations are beginning to reflect that, even if we’re still early in the cycle. But I believe that in the end, our minority stake will be worth more than it is today. Adastra is well-positioned, and we’re only getting better at executing in this space.
You also mentioned a third, internal factor affecting the transaction?
Yes—the third factor was internal: two years ago, we launched an initiative called One Adastra. For years, we hadn’t functioned as a traditional holding company. Instead, we operated more like a hybrid of a holding and a mid-sized business. The three founders were effectively captains of the same ship, but we gave a lot of autonomy to individual entities in each country. They shared the same brand, a common management philosophy, and exchanged know-how, but the structure was intentionally loose.
This worked well for us for a long time—it kept us agile. But at a certain size, we began to see inefficiencies. We noticed an increase in duplicated efforts: one team would innovate something, and another team—unaware—might be developing a similar solution. Once a year, they’d meet and realize they’d both been solving the same problem, separately. One of them could have been doing something else.
That’s why we started the One Adastra initiative: a transformation to streamline structure, management, and processes. Still, we’re not trying to turn the group into a bloated corporate machine.
When will One Adastra be completed?
The transformation was planned as a three-year process, so we have about one year left. We did consider waiting until it was completed to sell, as it would likely have increased our valuation in the eyes of investors.
But in the end, we chose to move ahead with the transaction in parallel with the ongoing One Adastra program.
Had you waited, perhaps you could’ve secured a higher price?
Maybe. But there’s no point dwelling on “what ifs.” We had certain expectations, and the top end of our valuation range was actually above what was estimated in the media. So no—we’re not dissatisfied with the sale price, even though we didn’t wait for the completion of One Adastra.
What happens now to the Adastra brand? Will its global presence grow?
Absolutely. Adastra has enormous potential ahead. From our conversations with Carlyle, it’s clear they see Adastra as a flagship platform, and they plan to support it accordingly.
They don’t just see Adastra as a brand but as a strategic platform—not only a technological one—under which they can execute targeted acquisitions. These companies will then plug into Adastra’s sails, so to speak, to build out an entire fleet.
And what about Ataccama? Will it now be somewhat overshadowed by Adastra?
Adastra and Ataccama have been completely separate companies for many years. Each does something very different. And no, Ataccama isn’t in anyone’s shadow. In fact, there’s another story developing around Ataccama.
In what timeframe?
We’re continuously evaluating. But each of us—including Bain Capital—has our own thresholds we monitor. Their fund operates on a five-year horizon, and they’ve been with us for three years now.
That doesn’t necessarily mean something big has to happen in the next couple of years, but the monitoring is already underway. Informal discussions are happening.
What’s more, thanks to the Adastra transaction—managed by JPMorgan—we’re now in closer contact with a wider network of investment bankers. Several have started proactively reaching out to us about Ataccama.
Published in Forbes, July 2025
