M&A Deal Summary

HarbourVest Partners and Cornerstone Acquire Saba Software

On February 24, 2020, private equity firm HarbourVest Partners and Cornerstone acquired internet software and services company Saba Software from Vector Capital for 1.4B USD

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is HarbourVest Partners’ 15th and Cornerstone’s 2nd transaction in the Internet Software and Services sector.
  • This is HarbourVest Partners’ 35th and Cornerstone’s largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is HarbourVest Partners’ 120th and Cornerstone’s 3rd transaction in the United States.
  • This is HarbourVest Partners’ 16th and Cornerstone’s 2nd transaction in California.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 2020-02-24
Target Saba Software
Sector Internet Software and Services
Buyer(s) HarbourVest Partners
Cornerstone
Sellers(s) Vector Capital
Deal Type Add-on Acquisition
Deal Value 1.4B USD
Advisor(s) William Blair (Financial)
Paul Hastings (Legal)

Target

Saba Software

Redwood Shores, California, United States
website
Saba Software is a cloud-based intelligent talent management solution used by organizations worldwide to hire, develop, engage and inspire their people. Saba Software was founded in 1997 and is based in Redwood Shores, California.

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Buyer(S) 2

Buyer

HarbourVest Partners

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

website

Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1978
PE ASSETS 86.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

HarbourVest Partners, LLC is an investment firm that makes investments in new private equity partnerships, acquires secondary interests, and makes direct investments in operating companies. HarbourVest's largest investment area is investments in private equity funds, comprising of approximately 2/3 of HarbourVest's assets. HarbourVest's direct investment group looks for investments in growth oriented businesses at a variety of stages. The Group generally targets co-investments of $5 to $100 million, growth capital financings of $5 to $40 million, or mezzanine commitments of $5 to $20 million. Sectors of interest include software, hardware, data communications, telecommunications, and financial services. HarbourVest was formed in 1997 to assume the business of Hancock Venture Partners which was formed in 1982. HarbourVest Partners is based in Boston, Massachusetts, with additional offices in London, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 204 of 223
Sector (Internet Software and Services) 15 of 17
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 3 of 10
State (California) 16 of 19
Country (United States) 120 of 133
Year (2020) 4 of 10
Size (of disclosed) 35 of 68
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2020-02-07 smartTrade Technologies

Aix-en-Provence, France

smartTrade Technologies is an automated trading platform that enables fast access to a wide range of liquidity for Foreign Exchange (FX), Fixed Income, Equities, Cryptocurrencies, and Derivatives. These solutions connect to numerous liquidity providers, aggregation, smart order routing, order management, pricing, distribution, risk management capabilities, and an HTML5 user interface. smartTrade Technologies was formed in 1999 and is based in Aix-en-Provence, France.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2020-03-02 NSi Industries

Huntersville, North Carolina, United States

NSi Industries is a provider of a wide variety of electrical connectors including insulated connectors and mechanical, digital time controls, time switches, wire management products, and related electrical components for construction, maintenance, and repair applications. NSi Industries was established in 1975 and is based in Huntersville, North Carolina.

Buy -
Buyer

Cornerstone

Santa Monica, California, United States

website

Category Company
Founded 1999
Sector Internet Software and Services
Employees2,900
Revenue 741M USD (2020)
DESCRIPTION

Cornerstone is a provider of cloud based comprehensive learning and talent management software solutions. Cornerstone was formed in 1999 and is based in Santa Monica, California.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 4 of 6
Sector (Internet Software and Services) 2 of 2
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 4 of 5
State (California) 2 of 3
Country (United States) 3 of 5
Year (2020) 1 of 1
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 4
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2018-11-07 Grovo Learning

New York, New York, United States

Grovo Learning, Inc. has produced over 2,500 micro-learning courses across a range of topics. Grovo has over 300 clients, including Gap Inc., Hulu, Chevron and Wells Fargo, with offices in New York City and San Francisco. Grovo helps L&D teams engage employees and drive their business forward by delivering a constantly evolving library of customizable Microlearning lessons through an easy-to-use platform. Hundreds of companies of all sizes, from PepsiCo and Gap to Bitly and Magellan Health, trust Grovo to onboard employees faster, deepen their leadership bench, enable customer-facing teams, re-envision compliance programs and build inclusive, mission-driven cultures.

Buy $24M
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2022-03-17 EdCast

Mountain View, California, United States

EdCast is a provider of LXP software solutions, known for its expertise and innovation in aggregating, curating, targeting, and delivering personalized and contextual learning to users. EdCast was founded in 2014 and is based in Mountain View, California.

Buy -

Seller(S) 1

SELLER

Vector Capital

San Francisco, California, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

website

Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1997
PE ASSETS 4.0B USD
Size Large
Type Sector Focused
DESCRIPTION

Vector Capital is a private equity firm specializing in spinouts, buyouts and recapitalizations of established technology businesses. Vector targets both public and private company investments. Prospective businesses typically have strong customer bases, high gross margins, and at least $30 million in sales. Vector Capital was formed in 1997, after spinning out from Ziff Brothers Investments. The Firm is based in San Francisco, California.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 29 of 33
Sector (Internet Software and Services) 6 of 8
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 16 of 18
State (California) 10 of 11
Country (United States) 25 of 28
Year (2020) 2 of 3
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 10
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2020-01-01 Alvaria

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Alvaria is a provider of fully integrated customer engagement, workforce optimization, and self-service omnichannel software solutions. Alvaria was founded in 1973 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Sell -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2020-08-01 Travelex

London, United Kingdom

Travelex is a specialist provider of foreign exchange and international business payments. The Group processes £20 billion of foreign exchange transactions every year. The Group’s consumer focused operations provide cash and pre-paid cards to over 30 million retail customers each year through a network of close to 1,000 stores and over 500 ATMs spread across 24 countries. Travelex was founded in 1976 and is based in London, United Kingdom

Buy -
Mergr

Product

Company

Legal