Granicus, a provider of software used by government to increase efficiency and transparency, has signed an agreement to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners. Existing owner K1 Investment Management will retain a minority ownership in the company. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.
Granicus provides a cloud-based platform that is used by more than 1,200 organizations and 63,000 government staff members to streamline workflows and establish more meaningful connections with citizens — online, over social networks and on mobile devices. Granicus’ software provides tools for live webcasting of public meetings and video archiving; agenda and legislative management; boards and commissions management; land management; and vital records management (birth certificates, death records, marriage licenses, divorce decrees). The company also provides a content management system built specifically for government website applications. Granicus, led by CEO Jason Fletcher, is headquartered in Denver (www.granicus.com).
According to Gartner, the government IT industry spent $6 billion last year on software and is expected to grow 42% through 2018. “We believe technology will play an increasingly important role both in enabling the legislative processes that keep our local communities, cities, and states running efficiently, as well as ensuring communication, openness, and transparency in the process,” said Brian Sheth, Co-Founder and President of Vista. “We are thrilled to partner with the Granicus team and invest in the company as a platform for continued growth.”
Vista makes equity investments in software, data and technology-enabled companies. The firm was founded in 2000 and has over 50 investment professionals operating out of San Francisco, Chicago and Austin (www.vistaequitypartners.com).
K1 Investment Management is a venture capital firm that focuses on investments in enterprise software companies. The firm is based near Los Angeles in El Segundo (www.k1capital.com).
“K1 is excited to partner with Vista to support the next phase of growth at Granicus,” said Neil Malik, Co-Founder and CEO of K1. “Since our investment in 2014, Granicus has solidified its position as the cloud software leader for government via strong organic growth, the acquisitions of AMCAD and Civica, and an operational revitalization that consolidated the company’s multiple offices to a single center in Denver. We believe Vista will be an outstanding growth partner for Granicus and K1 looks forward to continuing its support of the company.”
Shea & Company (www.shea-co.com), an investment bank with offices in Boston and San Francisco, was the financial advisor to Granicus. San Francisco-based Atlas Technology Group (www.atlastechgroup.com) was the financial advisor for Vista.
© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 8-24-16
