Leeds Closes Another Add-On for Simplify Compliance

Simplify Compliance, a portfolio company of Leeds Equity Partners, has acquired Human Capital Institute. The buy of HCI is the sixth acquisition by Simplify Compliance since its formation by Leeds in 2016.

Human Capital Institute (HCI) provides human resource and talent management education through corporate training, virtual workshops and conferences, and certification programs. The company is led by CEO Chuck Feltz and is headquartered in Cincinnati.

“It was important to find a perfect home for HCI,” said Mr. Feltz. “With a great footing in the HR marketplace and a history of making significant contributions to the industry, we are confident that we’ve made the right decision for our staff, facilitators, clients, sponsors and the HCI brands with Simplify Compliance.”

Leeds formed Simplify Compliance in December 2016 as a buy-and-build platform to acquire Fortis Business Media (DBA Business and Legal Resources (BLR)), a provider of services to assist companies in complying with state and federal legal requirements; and to acquire three portfolio companies of business-to-business publishing company UCG (DecisionHealth, Argosy and CCMI). Later add-ons included Bluepoint Leadership Development, a provider of leadership training and content; and Basic Safe, a provider of web-based environmental health and safety workflow management software.

Simplify Compliance is headquartered near Nashville in Brentwood, Tennessee and is led by CEO Dan Oswald. “We are excited to welcome HCI into the Simplify Compliance family. HCI and our BLR brand are leaders in the human capital management market. This acquisition brings value to our consolidated client base, contributing research-based professional development to our existing portfolio of solutions,” said Mr. Oswald.

New York City-based Leeds Equity invests in the education, training and information services industries. In November 2021, the firm held a final and above hard cap close of Leeds Equity Partners VII LP with just over $1.4 billion of capital commitments. Leeds Equity, founded by Jeffrey Leeds and Robert Bernstein in 1993, has raised more than $4 billion across its seven funds.

© 2022 Private Equity Professional | February 17, 2022