GE Capital’s Telecom, Media and Technology financing group served as administrative agent on a $310 million senior secured credit facility to support Vista Equity Partners’ November acquisition of compliance and ethics software provider NAVEX Global. GE Capital Markets was the co-lead arranger and co-bookrunner on the facility.
NAVEX Global is an ethics and compliance software and content provider. NAVEX’s products provide organizations with a platform for managing ethics and compliance standards mandated by legislation such as Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank, the UK Bribery Act, and numerous other regulations. The company serves approximately 8,000 customers across the globe, including 50% of the Fortune 500 and 70% of the Fortune 100. NAVEX was founded in 1997 and is headquartered south of Portland in Lake Oswego, OR (www.navexglobal.com).
“NAVEX is a perfect example of increasing investor interest in business-to-business software and software enabled service providers who offer applications through subscription models,” said Raj Seth, managing director and technology analyst with GE Capital’s TMT business. “NAVEX is well-positioned as regulatory and compliance-related issues become increasingly critical across many industry segments.”
Vista Equity Partners has more than $13 billion in committed capital and makes equity investments in enterprise software businesses and technology-enabled services companies. The firm was founded in 2000 and has over 50 investment professionals operating out of San Francisco, Chicago and Austin (www.vistaequitypartners.com).
“GE Capital has strong capabilities in the technology sector. We value our collaborative financing relationship with them and appreciate their hard work in leading this transaction for us,” said Kevin Sofield, head of capital markets at Vista Equity Partners.
GE Capital’s Telecom, Media and Technology (TMT) business provided more than $5.5 billion in financing in 2013 across 59 transactions. Sectors of interest include cable, towers, data centers, wireless, metro fiber, radio, TV, digital media, education services and software, and the related technologies that enable these industries (www.gecapital.com/tmt).
“In today’s complex world, companies are increasingly moving to software technology to help them manage compliance risk,” said Matthew Fleming, managing director with GE Capital’s TMT business. “We’re pleased to provide financing in support of Vista, a value-adding investor in the technology space, and NAVEX as they continue to innovate and grow.”
GE Capital’s TMT group has an extensive relationship with Vista. The group was also the administrative agent on $69 million of senior secured credit facilities to support the firm’s August 2014 acquisition of AGDATA, a provider of data and analytics to agricultural, crop protection and animal health manufacturers.
© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-3-14
