software

Serent Capital has made an investment in Apex Payroll Software, a provider of software that is used by payroll service bureaus to serve the human resources needs of small and medium sized businesses.

Apex’s suite of products and services allows service bureaus to process payroll, ensure tax compliance, provide workforce management, and manage human resources functions on behalf of their clients. Over 220 payroll service firms nationally use Apex’s software. The company is based north of Atlanta in Roswell, GA (www.apexpayroll.com).

Serent will be partnering with founders Stephen Gregg, Cathy Gregg, and Marty Hamby in the next stage of Apex’s growth. “Apex weighed the decision to partner with Serent very carefully and placed a high degree of importance on finding a firm that shared our values,” said Stephen Gregg, Founder and CEO of Apex. “We were impressed with Serent’s knowledge of our industry, and their experience working with fast-growing software businesses to help them thrive and scale. With Serent’s partnership, we will be able to invest more into our product and services so that we can provide an even better customer experience.”

“Investing in human resource technology providers continues to be a focus area for us, and we are thrilled that Steve and his team selected Serent as Apex’s strategic capital partner,” said Kevin Frick, Partner and Co-Founder at Serent Capital. “Apex has built a great business, with a strong and loyal customer base. We are excited about the opportunity to work with the executive team to build on the remarkable success that they have had, with the goal of providing an ever-better experience to our existing and future customers.”

Serent’s investment in Apex represents its fifth investment in the human resources technology space in the last two years; Avionté (2014), ICon Professional Services (2015), Synergy Services (2015, combined with ICon to form TalentWave), and Humanis (2016, combined with Avionte).

Serent Capital invests from $10 million to $50 million in service businesses with revenues of $10 million to $100 million and EBITDAs up to $15 million.  Transaction types include buyouts, recapitalizations and growth capital. The firm is based in San Francisco (www.serentcapital.com).

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 10-28-16

Falfurrias Capital Partners has acquired a majority equity interest in Marquis Software Solutions, a provider of data analytics and compliance software to financial institutions.

Marquis Software provides mid-tier banks and credit unions with data analytics; marketing customer information files (MCIF); customer relationship management (CRM) software; consulting, profitability and direct marketing services; and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), and fair lending compliance services. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered north of Dallas in Plano, TX (www.gomarquis.com).

With the close of this transaction, Susan Faulkner has joined Marquis as its new Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Faulkner succeeds Jay Kassing – the son of founder Les Kassing – who has announced plans to devote his time and energy to his own nonprofit organization following a brief transition period. Ms. Faulkner – who worked with Falfurrias to identify investment opportunities in companies that provide tech-enabled services to financial institutions – is a former 30-year tenure executive of Bank of America.

Falfurrias believes that Marquis has the potential to become the industry standard for a single vendor to provide the technology and services that financial institutions need to develop actionable intelligence to drive their revenue growth. “We see a tremendous opportunity to grow Marquis organically and through acquisition by enhancing its legacy capabilities while also investing in new solutions and services financial institutions need to better understand their customers and market products more effectively,” said Ms. Faulkner.

Falfurrias makes equity investments of at least $3 million in companies with revenues in excess of $10 million and EBITDAs in excess of $2 million. Industries of interest include financial services; consumer products; health care; building products; diversified manufacturing; business services; education, training, and information services; and infrastructure services.  Falfurrias was founded in 2006 by Hugh McColl Jr., former chairman and CEO of Bank of America, and Marc Oken, former CFO of Bank of America. The firm is based in Charlotte, NC (www.falfurriascapital.com).

“All of us at Marquis are excited to have the opportunity to partner with Falfurrias Capital Partners,” said Jay Kassing. “Falfurrias is the perfect partner to help Marquis grow because of its expertise in the financial services industry and its extensive relationships with seasoned bank executives, including Susan, who will provide significant value to the Marquis management team.”

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 10-14-16

Primus Capital has made a growth investment in Certona, a provider of software that provides for the profiling of digital retail shoppers. The new capital will be used to grow market share, accelerate product development and expand services and support for existing and new clients.

Certona pioneered the use of machine learning and predictive algorithms to provide real-time profiling of digital retail shoppers. Within 3-4 clicks on a site, Certona’s products enable retailers to predict the next best action for the shopper in order to improve customer engagement, conversions, average order value (AOV) and – most importantly – total sales. Certona’s products are used on over 500 top e-commerce websites in more than 70 countries. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in San Diego (www.certona.com).

“As digital commerce takes a larger share of the overall retail market, Certona continues to set the pace by providing robust, best-of-breed personalization solutions to an impressive retail client base,” said Ron Hess, Director of Primus. “We are excited about Certona’s growth prospects and impressed with the company’s solid business fundamentals and strong leadership team.”

Primus invests from $15 million to $70 million in companies within the healthcare, software, and technology-enabled services sectors. Transaction types include management-led buyouts, control and non-control recapitalizations and growth equity investments. The firm was founded in 1983 and is investing through Primus Capital Fund VII, a $353 million fund closed in 2013. Primus is based in Cleveland (www.primuscapital.com).

“We look forward to working with Primus as our strategic partner to bring capital and market perspective to help Certona with this exciting growth stage,” said Meyar Sheik, CEO and co-founder of Certona. “Primus’ track record of success with SaaS companies will be extremely valuable in further scaling the business over time.”

“The digital commerce industry is experiencing rapid growth due to ever-increasing consumer demand,” said Geoffrey Hueter, PhD, CTO and co-founder of Certona. “This funding will enable us to fuel strategic initiatives around new market opportunities, product innovations and support offerings.”

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 9-29-16

The Riverside Company has signed an agreement to acquire Guestline Limited, a provider of software used in the hospitality industry. Riverside has experience investing in software companies having completed more than 60 investments in the sector.

Guestline’s range of products cover all areas of hospitality and hotel management, including property management software, channel distribution, digital marketing, payment card compliance and electronic point-of-sale systems. The company’s cloud-based software is used by independent hotels and hotel chains, and serviced apartments (a furnished apartment available for both short-term as well as long-term stays, providing all the hotel-like amenities) to increase room occupancy, average room rates and asset yield. Guestline was founded in 1991 and has approximately 100 employees. The company is based northwest of Birmingham in Shrewsbury, UK (www.guestline.com).

Riverside will assist Guestline in further penetrating the UK market and entering new markets, develop new products, and expand the company through add-on acquisitions. “Guestline’s products are proven to seamlessly and easily generate revenue for customers,” said Riverside Partner Martin Scott. “It is an exceptional platform for growth, as the company has strong expansion potential both in its home market and internationally.”

Guestline is led by its CEO Phil Davidson. “We have found the right partner in Riverside to support the next phase of our growth. Riverside will help us increase the pace of improvements for customers by delivering new services and retaining our cutting-edge technology advantage, which will also drive growth both in the UK and internationally.”

The Riverside Company is a global private equity firm focused on investing in and acquiring growing businesses valued at up to $300 million. Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has invested in more than 420 transactions. The firm’s international portfolio includes more than 80 companies. Riverside is headquartered in New York with additional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London (www.riversidecompany.com).

Working with Mr. Scott on the transaction for Riverside were Vice Presidents Tommy Seddon, Marcin Goszyk and Associate Alicia Wnorowski. Mr. Seddon also sourced the transaction for Riverside.

BDO (www.bdocap.com) advised Riverside on the transaction and Jones Day (www.jonesday.com) provided legal advice.

Altium Capital (www.altiumcapital.com) was the financial advisor to Guestline and Grant Thornton (www.grantthornton.co.uk) provided accounting (commercial and tax) advice. Pinsent Masons (www.pinsentmasons.com) was legal counsel to Guestline.

© 2016 Private Equity Professional • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-18-16

Moelis Capital Partners has made an investment in Flexible Architecture and Simplified Technology (FAST), a provider of software to life insurance companies.

FAST provides software that is used for life insurance policy administration, new business, underwriting, distribution management and claims processing. FAST was founded by the former leaders of NaviSys, an insurance industry software provider that was sold to Accenture in 2006.  FAST is headquartered in Edison, NJ (www.fasttechnology.com).

“FAST has the most innovative core life insurance software platform in the marketplace, and we believe the company is ideally positioned to continue capitalizing on the software modernization trend within the insurance industry,” said Joel Killion, a Partner at Moelis Capital.

Moelis Capital Partners (MCP) was founded in 2007 in connection with the formation of investment bank Moelis & Company.  The firm manages $870 million of committed capital and specializes in traditional private equity investments in the middle market.  MCP is based in New York (www.moeliscapital.com).

“MCP’s objectives for the business are directly in line with where I want to take FAST,” said Tom Famularo, Chief Executive Officer of FAST.  “I believe our customers will be well-served by this relationship, as MCP is a strong capital partner with significant resources and insights that will accelerate our maturity as an organization.”

Celent (www.celent.com), a financial and technology consulting firm owned by Marsh & McLennan, assisted MCP with industry due diligence.  “We were pleased to assist MCP in their analysis of the market for policy administration systems,” said Tom Scales, Research Director, Celent, “Insurers are under pressure to respond to the digital age and are being held back by their legacy state.  FAST is recognized as one of the technology leaders in the US marketplace, and is well-positioned to capture growth as insurers look to acquire more agile technology solutions.”

Sherman & Company (www.sherman-company.com), a Charlotte-based investment bank that specializes in the insurance industry, was the financial adviser to FAST on the transaction.

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 9-10-15

Vista Equity Partners has agreed to acquire a majority interest in Mediaocean, a provider of software used by the advertising industry.  Michael Donovan, the executive chairman of Mediaocean, will continue as a board member and will retain the remaining equity in Mediaocean.  The transaction is expected to close in Q3 2015.

Mediaocean software automates advertising workflow – from planning and buying, to analyzing and optimizing, to invoicing and payments. The software has cross-media capability and can be used for both traditional and digital media.  Mediaocean software serves more than 80,000 users across advertisers, agencies, broadcasters and publishers.  The company was formed in 2012 through the merger of Donovan Data Systems and MediaBank LLC, which were led by Michael Donovan and Bill Wise, respectively. The company is headquartered in New York with six additional offices worldwide (www.Mediaocean.com).

“Michael and Bill’s combined vision and know-how have built a mission-critical and integrated platform that makes Mediaocean the best-in-industry partner for their customers to stay competitive,” said Robert Smith, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Vista Equity Partners. “Together we can strengthen and expand Mediaocean’s existing solutions while pursuing exciting new growth opportunities in a dynamic and ever-evolving industry.”

Vista intends to accelerate the growth of the company and increase product innovation.  “Four years ago we created Mediaocean with the goal of providing the industry with an open platform to easily integrate campaigns across all traditional and digital media. I am truly proud of our growth and progress to date and believe that working together with Vista will allow us to continue to build on this success,” said Mr. Donovan.  “When Vista approached us, we were impressed by its strategic vision. They operate more like an enterprise software holding company than a classic private equity firm with nearly 200 employees — most of whom are operators, not finance professionals.”

Vista Equity Partners has more than $14 billion in committed capital and makes equity investments in enterprise software businesses and technology-enabled services companies. The firm was founded in 2000 and has offices in San Francisco, Chicago and Austin (www.vistaequitypartners.com).

“Vista’s investment is the next great milestone for Mediaocean and presents a significant opportunity to continue to build on our success, and truly advance the marketplace forward,” said Bill Wise, CEO of Mediaocean. “Our vision has always been to provide advertisers, agencies, broadcasters and publishers with a top-tier, converged advertising ecosystem. Partnering with Vista will allow us to accelerate progress in achieving this goal, while solidifying our leadership in the industry.”

2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 6-29-15

PeopleAdmin, a provider of on-demand talent management software-as-a-service, has been acquired by Vista Equity Partners.

PeopleAdmin provides software-as-a-service talent management services designed for education and government organizations. The software is used to manage the hiring of people, enroll new employees, manage positions and employee performance; develop compliant, defensible audit trails; and to generate reporting and metrics. More than 700 organizations, including 30% of the 2,000 largest US institutions of higher education, use PeopleAdmin’s services. The company was founded in 2000 and is based in Austin, TX (www.peopleadminm.com).

“PeopleAdmin has a history of delivering truly unique and mission-critical value to its clients,” said Patrick Severson, Principal of Vista Equity Partners Foundation Fund. “By combining our resources and expertise with the great team at PeopleAdmin, we see a tremendous opportunity to fuel the next stage of growth and help clients hire, develop and retain some of their greatest assets: their people.”

Vista Equity Partners has more than $7 billion in committed capital and makes equity investments in enterprise software businesses and technology-enabled services companies. The firm was founded in 2000 and has over 50 investment professionals operating out of Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco (www.vistaequitypartners.com).

“We are excited to partner with Vista as we look to accelerate our growth and continue to provide valuable solutions to our clients,” said Susanne Bowen, CEO of PeopleAdmin. “We share a similar vision for the company, and Vista’s software expertise and focus will enable us to continue to scale and serve our clients and invest in our best-in-class product suite.”

Lazard (www.lazard.com) served as financial advisor to PeopleAdmin.

© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-28-14

Court Square Capital Partners has acquired AFS Technologies, a provider of software used in the consumer packaged goods industry, from Goldman Sachs’ Private Capital and ABRY Partners. The investment by Court Square, in partnership with members of the AFS management team, also provides growth capital and capital for future acquisitions.

AFS Technologies is a provider on-demand cloud-based and server-based software used by manufacturers, distributors, sales agencies and third party logistics providers in the consumer packaged goods industry. AFS’s software is used for accounting, supply chain management, sales automation, warehouse management, and business intelligence. The company’s services include consulting, application development, maintenance, support, and training. AFS’ customers number more than 1,100 and are active as meat, fish, seafood, and poultry processors, grocery distributors, convenience store distributors, and frozen food distributors. AFS was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Phoenix (www.afsi.com).

“This investment by Court Square will bring to a close AFS Technologies’ successful partnership with Goldman Sachs’ Private Capital Investing group since 2011. Over the course of Goldman Sachs’ partnership with AFS Technologies, the company expanded its global footprint, completed six acquisitions and became a leading provider of Trade Promotion Spend Management, Retail Execution and Data Visualization solutions in this segment,” said Kurien Jacob, CEO of AFS Technologies.  “For AFS customers and employees, having Court Square as a financial partner will provide capital to accelerate our investment in current technology and solutions, as well as continue to grow through acquisitions. Strategic acquisitions help accelerate our offerings and provide global support for our customers.”

Court Square Capital Partners was established as an independent private equity firm by the former members of Citigroup Venture Capital Equity Partners. Court Square is focused primarily on leveraged buyout transactions in the middle market. Sectors of interest include business services, general industrial, healthcare, and technology/telecommunications. Court Square currently manages approximately $5.5 billion of capital and is based in New York (www.courtsquare.com).

The Goldman Sachs Private Capital Investing group, which first invested in AFS Technologies in 2011, is the firm’s investment platform that makes equity and mezzanine investments in growth and middle market companies. Goldman Sachs is headquartered in New York. To access the Private Capital website click HERE.

ABRY Partners, which invested in AFS in 2012, invests in the media, communications and information sectors. ABRY is currently investing ABRY Partners VII (a $1.6 billion private equity fund), ABRY Senior Equity III (a $750 million senior equity/mezzanine fund) and ABRY Advanced Securities Fund II (a $1.2 billion senior debt fund). The firm is headquartered in Boston (www.abry.com).

William Blair & Company (www.williamblair.com) and Madison Park Group (www.madisonparkgrp.com) served as co-advisors to AFS Technologies in connection with this transaction.

© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 2-19-14

TA Associates has completed a majority investment in Accruent, a provider of real estate and facilities management software. Existing investor Vista Equity Partners, which first invested in Accruent in December 2009, will retain a significant ownership position.

Accruent provides market planning, site selection, project management, lease administration, facilities and space management software that is purpose-built for specific industries. Over the last four years, Accruent has completed four strategic acquisitions to become the largest independent provider of real estate and facilities software. The customer base has grown from 400 to over 1,200 customers that use the company’s software in 56 countries. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Austin, TX and has offices in Santa Monica, CA; Evanston, IL; Calgary, AB, Canada and Columbus, OH (www.accruent.com).

“We’ve been tracking the evolution and growth of this category for years and Accruent has clearly emerged as the market leader,” said Hythem El-Nazer, a Director at TA Associates who will join the company’s Board of Directors. “It is a very well-run company and we are excited to support the team’s current strategy and direction. We look forward to partnering with management and Vista Equity to build on Accruent’s success.”

TA Associates makes buyouts and minority recapitalizations of profitable growth companies in the technology, financial services, business services, healthcare and consumer industries. Since founding in 1968, TA has invested in over 430 companies globally and has raised more than $18 billion in capital. The firm was founded in 1968 and has offices in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong (www.ta.com).

“Real Estate, Facilities and Site Management represent a large component of enterprise spend and a huge strategic lever,” said Jason Werlin, a Principal at TA Associates who will also join the company’s Board of Directors. “The market is fragmented and, until recently, solutions were either painful to implement or incomplete. Accruent’s ability to deliver enterprise class solutions with the ease of cloud deployment is a tremendous opportunity for organizations to unlock value by managing real estate assets in a more strategic manner.”

Vista Equity Partners has more than $7 billion in committed capital and makes equity investments in enterprise software businesses and technology-enabled services companies. The firm was founded in 2000 and has over 50 investment professionals operating out of Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco (www.vistaequitypartners.com).

“Our four-year partnership with Vista Equity Partners allowed us to transform our company and products,” said Mark Friedman, Founder and CEO of Accruent. “Our new partnership with TA Associates allows us to stay private and focused on our current strategy while leveraging TA’s global scale and deep industry expertise to provide our customers with even more long-term value.”

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 11-26-13

Zen Planner, a provider of cloud-based business management software for the health and fitness industry, has received a $10 million growth equity investment from Mainsail Partners.

“This investment is an important milestone in our company’s history and growth,” said Jeff Gardner, Zen Planner’s CEO. “Our goal is to make business management easy for our health and fitness customers so they can focus on delivering great experiences for their members. This growth capital, combined with Mainsail’s experience in scaling companies like ours, will allow us to further invest in product development, mobile solutions, sales and marketing, and delivering the high quality of service our customers have come to expect.”

Zen Planner is a provider of cloud-based business management software for the health and fitness industry. The company’s software manages all areas of business, including: marketing campaigns, customer relationship management, automated online payments, class and appointment scheduling, event registration, expense tracking, and detailed financial reporting across multiple studios or locations. Zen Planner serves business owners across multiple disciplines, including general fitness gyms, martial arts, CrossFit, yoga, Pilates, gymnastics and dance studios, among others. The company was founded in 2006 and is based near Denver in Highlands Ranch, CO (www.zenplanner.com).

“Zen Planner’s intuitive cloud-based technology, combined with the company’s relentless focus on customer service, delivers the best solution for a large percentage of the health and fitness market that is still using manual processes or suboptimal solutions,” said Vinay Kashyap, a Vice President at Mainsail Partners, who will also be joined by Jason Payne from Mainsail on the Zen Planner board. “Most importantly, we have partnered with a capable management team, led by Jeff Gardner, who is passionate about the customer base they serve.”

Mainsail Partners invests from $5 million to $15 million in companies that are located in the United States and Canada with revenue of $4 million to $50 million and EBITDA of $1 million to $8 million. The firm was founded by Gavin Turner and Jason Payne in 2003 and is based in San Francisco (www.mainsailpartners.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-23-13