Genstar Capital has acquired Prometheus Group from Francisco Partners for over $1 billion.
Prometheus is a provider of plant maintenance operations and optimization software. The company’s products utilize data analytics that improves the workflow (from planning to scheduling and execution) of plant maintenance operations for industrial facilities.
The customers of Prometheus include more than 200 blue-chip companies that are active in the oil & gas, chemical, pulp & paper, mining & metals, and utilities industries. The company, founded in 1998, has over 300 employees and is headquartered in Raleigh, NC (www.prometheusgroup.com).
Eric Huang, the chief executive officer and founder of Prometheus, will remain a significant shareholder in the company, and Francisco Partners will retain a minority investment.
“We have an unwavering focus on integrating all aspects of plant maintenance and operations and delivering hard dollar ROI for our customers,” said Mr. Huang. “With Francisco Partners’ support and shared vision, we scaled the business significantly and expanded our platform to solve an even broader set of our customers’ critical pain points. We are very excited to continue that journey with Genstar leveraging their industrial technology expertise.”
Plant maintenance management is complex and can involve coordinating the certifications and schedules of hundreds or thousands of workers as well as the availability of maintenance materials and specialized equipment. Prometheus’s software integrates with customers’ existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to streamline and make efficient plant maintenance management.
“We have invested extensively in software solutions providers similar to Prometheus, and their reputation as a leader in the plant maintenance technology sector is well deserved,” said Eli Weiss, a managing director of Genstar. “Eric and his team have built an integrated easy-to-use platform, and their solutions help transform plant maintenance operations. Prometheus aligns well with our previous investments, and we are excited to work with Eric and his team to help further expand the solutions portfolio and target acquisitions that will broaden the company’s suite of services.”
Genstar invests from $50 million to $400 million in middle-market companies that have enterprise values from $50 million to $1 billion and EBITDAs greater than $15 million. The firm targets investments in the financial services, software, industrial technology, and healthcare industries. In February 2019, Genstar held a final closing of Genstar Capital Partners IX LP with $5.9 billion in capital commitments. Genstar was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in San Francisco (www.gencap.com).
Francisco Partners acquired its majority equity interest in Prometheus in partnership with Mr. Huang in October 2016. “We are proud to have partnered with the Prometheus team in building out a unified platform for operational excellence through both organic growth and M&A,” said Petri Oksanen, a partner at Francisco Partners. “We look forward to continuing the relationship and seeing Prometheus further build on its heritage of innovation.”
Francisco Partners makes investments in technology companies with transaction values ranging from $20 million to $2 billion. Transaction structures include buyouts, divisional divestitures, recapitalizations, restructurings and growth equity financings. Francisco Partners is headquartered in San Francisco with an additional office in London (www.franciscopartners.com).
Lazard (www.lazard.com) was the financial advisor to Prometheus Group.
© 2019 Private Equity Professional | June 3, 2019
