ParkerGale Capital has acquired CultureIQ, a provider of employee culture and engagement surveys, which simultaneously acquired the Workforce Surveys & Analytics division of the Corporate Executive Board, a subsidiary of publicly traded Gartner. ParkerGale will own a majority of the combined business which will retain the CultureIQ name.
CultureIQ is a software-as-a-service provider of employee culture and engagement surveys. The software uses pulse surveys, trend questions and custom surveys to collect ongoing employee feedback, then analyzes and benchmarks the insight into a reporting dashboard.
The company’s services are used by human resources departments, talent management teams, global organizations, high-performing companies, non-profits and start-ups to explore ways to align employee culture with business goals. CultureIQ was founded by Greg Besner in 2013 and is headquartered in New York (www.cultureiq.com).
ParkerGale has used CultureIQ’s products across its portfolio companies for several years. “We think this combination is exactly what the market is looking for – a high tech and high touch approach to employee engagement,” said Devin Mathews, Partner at ParkerGale. “From our industry research, we know there is a huge market without a clear leader. Companies are updating the old ways of surveying employees for feedback and are now listening deeply to their employees using technology and fostering engagement through action plans built on decades of benchmarking and best practices. The combination of CultureIQ and WS&A creates the clear leader the industry has been seeking.”
Like Culture IQ, the Workforce Surveys & Analytics division (WS&A) is a provider of employee culture and engagement surveys which are used by corporations globally to align employees with corporate strategy. The WS&A has more than 200 customers including more than half that are among the Fortune’s 100 Most Admired Companies. WS&A was formed by Corporate Executive Board through the acquisition of Genesee Survey Services in January 2009 and Valtera Corporation in 2012. Gartner acquired the publicly traded Corporate Executive Board in April 2017 for $2.6 billion. Click HERE for the WS&A webpage.
“Combining WS&A’s nearly 50 years of deep expertise in the survey and talent analytics space with CultureIQ’s innovative platform is an exciting proposition for our team and will allow us to bring even greater value to our clients,” said Karen Barbera, Head of Delivery at WS&A.
“This is an exciting combination of two great companies. One with strong, modern technology and one with decades of expertise and intellectual property. WS&A is the recognized industry leader working with some of the largest companies in the world and we are excited to join forces,” said Mr. Besner who will be the CEO of the combined business.
ParkerGale makes control investments in profitable technology companies that have at least $2 million of EBITDA. Companies with subscription or transaction-based revenue models are preferred. The firm was founded in 2014 by five former members of Chicago Growth Partners – Devin Mathews, Dave Chandler, Jim Milbery, Kristina Heinze and Ryan Milligan. ParkerGale is headquartered in Chicago (www.parkergale.com).
Stamford, CT-based Gartner, with revenues in excess of $3 billion annually, is a research and advisory firm with a focus on information technology (www.gartner.com).
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | April 10, 2018
