Spire Capital Partners has sold Performance Assessment Network (PAN), a provider of testing and management assessment services, to PSI Services, a portfolio company of Waud Capital Partners. Spire acquired PAN in February 2013 from Equifax Workforce Solutions, a subsidiary of Equifax Inc.
Performance Assessment Network (PAN) is a provider of online talent assessments and testing services that aid more than 2,500 corporate and government organizations in hiring and growing top talent. PAN delivers millions of talent assessments annually in both remote and proctored environments and has a testing center network with more than 600 locations. The company, led by CEO Jim Holm, was founded in 2000 and is based in Carmel, IN (www.panpowered.com).
“Jim Holm and the entire PAN senior management team did an extraordinary job in positioning the company in the highly complex and quickly evolving talent measurement industry. Our strong financial performance and ultimate investment outcome are a direct result of the management team’s vision and execution,” said Bruce Hernandez, a Partner at Spire Capital.
Spire invests from $15 million to $40 million in companies with revenues of at least $10 million and EBITDAs of $5 million. Sectors of interest include business services, information services, media, education and communications. Spire is investing out of its third fund and has managed over $700 million in private equity commitments since its founding in 2000. The firm is led by partners Andy Armstrong, Bruce Hernandez, David Schaible and Sean White and is based in New York (www.spirecapital.com).
“I am proud of the PAN team and what we were able to accomplish,” said Mr. Holm. “As a second time senior leader at a Spire portfolio company, I had a good sense of the strategic insight and business development input the firm would provide, as well as the overall support needed during our aggressive growth period over the last few years. It was a great partnership from start to finish.”
PAN was the final portfolio company in Spire’s second fund, Spire Capital Partners II, LP, which closed in 2007 with $319 million of committed capital.
PSI Services, the buyer of PAN, provides talent assessments, licensure testing services, certification credentialing services, license management services, and biometric identification authentication services. The company is headquartered in Burbank, CA (www.psionline.com). PSI has been a portfolio company of Waud Capital Partners since March 2015.
Waud Capital makes investments from $50 million to $100 million in middle-market companies with enterprise values from $50 million to $250 million that operate in the healthcare services and business and technology services sectors. Since its founding in 1993, Waud Capital has made more than 195 investments, including platform companies and add-on acquisitions. The firm is headquartered in Chicago (www.waudcapital.com).
Houlihan Lokey (www.HL.com) was the financial advisor to Spire Capital and PAN.
© 2017 Private Equity Professional | January 26, 2017
