Vestar Capital Partners has agreed to make an investment in Information Resources (IRI), a portfolio company of New Mountain Capital since 2011.
Information Resources is a provider of market and shopper information (point-of-sale data tracking) and predictive analysis to companies that are active in consumer packaged goods (CPG), OTC health care, retailers, financial services and media. The company’s data and analytics are used by customers to improve marketing, category management, product placement, inventory management, and pricing decisions.
Information Resources has over 5,000 customers including more than 95 percent of Fortune 100 CPG and retail companies. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Chicago (www.iriworldwide.com).
Post-closing, New Mountain and Vestar will jointly own and operate IRI. Jeffrey Ansell, a Vestar Senior Advisor and IRI Board member since 2011, will serve as Chairman of IRI. New Mountain and other existing investors are retaining meaningful investments in the company. “The IRI management team, led by CEO Andrew Appel, has a proven track record of partnering with clients to leverage data, technology, and cutting-edge ideas to help achieve better business results,” said Mr. Ansell. “Working with Andrew and this talented management team, as well as with New Mountain and Vestar, we can continue to realize the strong client impact and value creation potential of this business.”
Vestar specializes in management buyouts and growth capital investments. The firm targets equity investments from $50 million to $150 million in middle-market companies with enterprise values ranging from $250 million to $1 billion. Sectors of interest include consumer; diversified industries; healthcare; and financial services. Since the firm’s founding in 1988, Vestar has completed more than 80 investments in companies with a total value of more than $50 billion. Vestar has offices in New York, Boston, and Denver (www.vestarcapital.com).
“IRI’s accelerating top-line performance, long-term customer relationships, and stable margins make for a highly attractive financial profile,” said Norm Alpert, Co-President of Vestar. “IRI’s sophisticated data and predictive analytics offerings are unique and the value to clients has been proven again and again. We see meaningful upside through continued improvement and investment in innovative insights for clients as well as expansion both organically and through strategic acquisitions.”
New Mountain is an industry generalist and seeks to acquire just three or four companies each year, typically in the $100 million to $1 billion enterprise value range, and generally invests $100 million to $500 million per transaction. In September 2017, New Mountain held an oversubscribed final close of its fifth private equity fund, New Mountain Partners V LP. The new fund closed at its hard cap with just over $6.1 billion of capital commitments. The firm was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in New York (www.newmountaincapital.com).
Evercore, Morgan Stanley, and Jefferies were the financial advisors to New Mountain and IRI. Jefferies, Nomura Securities and Ares Management provided committed financing for the transaction.
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | November 16, 2018