Ministry Brands, a portfolio company of Providence Equity Partners, has acquired the faith division of Active Network, a portfolio company of Vista Equity Partners.
The faith division is largely comprised of the Fellowship One software product that provides a cloud-based suite of programs that are used to integrate church administrative functions. Approximately 4,500 churches utilize Fellowship One software. Post closing, the Fellowship One headquarters will remain in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (www.fellowshipone.com).
Rick Chatham, the co-founder of Fellowship Technologies, the company that became Fellowship One, will return as general manager to oversee the company under Providence ownership. “I think Ministry Brands is deeply committed to the church community, and it is a real privilege to pick up this mantle that is dear to my heart,” said Mr. Chatham.
According to Providence, the buy is part of Ministry Brands’ strategy to serve churches with streamlined, comprehensive technology, allowing pastors, other church leaders and administrators to focus on ministry.
“Ministry Brands strives to reduce the friction between technology and the church by unifying the church’s most important software programs,” said Brad Hill, Ministry Brands’ executive vice president of platform services. “The mission of the faith division and the Fellowship One product is right in-line with our goal to create holistic, impactful technology that helps build Christ-centered communities in the 21st century. We look forward to adding their passion and expertise to our growing family.”
Ministry Brands is one of the largest providers of SaaS to churches, parachurch ministries and other faith-based organizations with more than 45,000 customers. Parachurch organizations are Christian faith-based organizations (businesses, non-profit corporations, or private associations) that work outside and across denominations to engage in social welfare and evangelism, usually independent of church oversight. Ministry Brands’ products include church management, giving and payment processing, and website development software. Ministry Brands is based in Knoxville, TN (www.ministrybrands.com).
Providence Equity Partners invests in the media, entertainment, communications and information industries and has approximately $40 billion of capital under management. The firm was founded in 1989 and is based in Providence, RI with additional offices in New York, London, New Delhi, Hong Kong, and Singapore (www.provequity.com).
© 2016 Private Equity Professional • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-21-16