M&A Deal Summary

W Capital Partners, Susquehanna Growth Equity and Escalate Capital Acquire Workfront

On March 13, 2019, secondary investor W Capital Partners, growth capital firm Susquehanna Growth Equity and mezzanine finance firm Escalate Capital acquired internet software and services company Workfront from JMI Equity and JW Capital for 280M USD

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is W Capital Partners’ 6th, Susquehanna Growth Equity’s 23rd and Escalate Capital’s 11th transaction in the Internet Software and Services sector.
  • This is W Capital Partners’ 3rd, Susquehanna Growth Equity’s and Escalate Capital’s largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is W Capital Partners’ 20th, Susquehanna Growth Equity’s 39th and Escalate Capital’s 35th transaction in the United States.
  • This is W Capital Partners’ 2nd, Susquehanna Growth Equity’s 1st and Escalate Capital’s 2nd transaction in Utah.
Investment Fate
  • Workfront was sold to a publicly-traded strategic buyer in 2020 for 1.5B USD.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 2019-03-13
Target Workfront
Sector Internet Software and Services
Buyer(s) W Capital Partners
Susquehanna Growth Equity
Escalate Capital
Sellers(s) JMI Equity
JW Capital
Deal Type Secondary Buyout
Deal Value 280M USD
Advisor(s) Goldman Sachs (Financial)
Goodwin Procter (Legal)

Target

Workfront

Lehi, Utah, United States
website
Workfront, Inc. is a provider of Software as a Service (SaaS)-based project management and collaborative workforce management solutions. Workfront is the first enterprise application platform for knowledge workers, helping people get their best work done by automating projects and processes, managing content, and providing company-wide collaboration in a single system of record. Workfront was established in 2001 and is based in Lehi, Utah.

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Buyer(S) 3

Buyer

W Capital Partners

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

website

Category Secondary Investor
Founded 2001
PE ASSETS 3.0B USD
Size Large
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

W Capital Partners is a private investment group focused on direct secondary investments. W Capital Partners has a particular interest in growth equity secondary investments as well as buyout minority secondary investments, where existing shareholders are looking for liquidity. W Capital Partners is based in New York City.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 20 of 20
Sector (Internet Software and Services) 6 of 6
Type (Secondary Buyout) 1 of 1
State (Utah) 2 of 2
Country (United States) 20 of 20
Year (2019) 1 of 1
Size (of disclosed) 3 of 3
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2018-11-06 SS8

Milpitas, California, United States

SS8 provides end-to-end communications and cyber intelligence solutions to access and intercept information and conduct data discovery to deliver actionable intelligence for analysis to national governments law enforcement agencies. SS8 was founded in 1999 and is based in Milpitas, California.

Sell -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2020-04-05 Ravn Air

Anchorage, Alaska, United States

Ravn Air is a provider of regional air transportation and logistics services in the state of Alaska. Ravn Air is based in Anchorage, Alaska.

Sell -
Buyer

Susquehanna Growth Equity

Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

website

Category Growth Capital Firm
Founded 2006
Size Middle-Market
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Susquehanna Growth Equity (SGE) is the private equity arm of The Susquehanna International Group of Companies. SGE focuses on companies that help streamline payments and related transactions. This includes SaaS, payments and transaction processing, capital markets technology, and internet/information services. SGE looks to commit $5 to $50 million in companies with at least $5 million of revenue. The Firm will consider both control and minority positions and targets opportunities across North America, Europe, and Israel. SGE was established in 2006 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 50 of 69
Sector (Internet Software and Services) 23 of 30
Type (Secondary Buyout) 4 of 4
State (Utah) 1 of 1
Country (United States) 39 of 52
Year (2019) 3 of 5
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 1
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2019-02-05 Poppulo

Denver, Colorado, United States

Poppulo is a provider of enterprise content management solutions for visual communications. The Company’s enterprise-grade software and data integrations enable customers to deploy and manage visual content and applications on digital displays while integrating real-time data. Poppulo delivers functionality, integrations and services through a cloud management interface, flexible authoring tool, cross-platform support and vertically-tailored applications. Poppulo was formed in 2005 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2019-06-03 Real Capital Analytics

New York, New York, United States

Real Capital Analytics is a private company and the go-to data and analytics provider of the properties, transactions and participants that drive the commercial real estate capital markets globally. The company has built a sterling reputation within the commercial real estate industry for effectively aggregating timely and reliable transaction data and providing valuable intelligence on market pricing, capital flows and investment trends in more than 170 countries. The most active investors, lenders, brokers and advisors depend on RCA’s unique insight to formulate their strategies, source new opportunities, and execute their deals. Real Capital Analytics was established in 2000 and is based in New York City.

Buy -
Buyer

Escalate Capital

Austin, Texas, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

website

Category Mezzanine Finance Firm
Founded 2005
PE ASSETS 830M USD
Size Middle-Market
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Escalate Capital Partners is a private investment firm focused on providing capital to expansion and late-stage companies. The Firm focuses its investment activity within the technology, life sciences, and service-based industries. Prospective financing solutions include senior, subordinated and mezzanine debt. Escalate's target investment size is $5 to $30 million. Escalate Capital Partners has offices in Menlo Park, California and Austin, Texas.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 35 of 39
Sector (Internet Software and Services) 11 of 11
Type (Secondary Buyout) 2 of 3
State (Utah) 2 of 3
Country (United States) 35 of 39
Year (2019) 1 of 3
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 1
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2018-09-26 Movista

Bentonville, Arizona, United States

Movista is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that provides the industry’s leading mobile-first retail execution and workforce management platform, ONE by Movista. Movista was founded in 2010 and is based in Bentonville, Arizona.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2019-09-25 Entelo

San Francisco, California, United States

Entelo engages in recruiting automation, applying predictive analytics and AI to help find, qualify, and engage with the best talent for the organization. From eliminating unconscious bias within the sourcing process to offering a completely automated sourcing and outreach mode, Entelo goes above and beyond the typical search functionality of a sourcing platform. Entelowas founded in 2011 and is based in San Francisco, California.

Buy -

Seller(S) 2

SELLER

JMI Equity

La Jolla, California, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

website

Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1992
PE ASSETS 7.5B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Focused
DESCRIPTION

JMI Equity is a private equity firm focused on investments in software, internet, business service, and healthcare IT. Targeted businesses typically help automate and optimize business and information technology processes. The Firm will consider investments at all stages of development, including early-stage companies, self-funded businesses requiring growth capital, and later stage businesses in need of buyout or recapitalization funding. JMI looks to commit at least $10 million per transaction. JMI Equity was formed in 1992 and maintains offices in San Diego and Baltimore.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 91 of 105
Sector (Internet Software and Services) 15 of 21
Type (Secondary Buyout) 17 of 18
State (Utah) 1 of 1
Country (United States) 83 of 93
Year (2019) 4 of 8
Size (of disclosed) 19 of 34
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2019-03-05 WhiteHat

San Jose, California, United States

WhiteHat is a provider of on-demand website and web application security software delivered as a service. WhiteHat's cloud website vulnerability management platform and leading security engineers turn verified security intelligence into actionable insights for customers. WhiteHat was founded in 2001 and is based in Santa Clara, California.

Sell -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2019-05-29 OpenSesame

Portland, Oregon, United States

OpenSesame is an eLearning platform that offers a comprehensive online catalog of curated employee training courses. OpenSesame was founded in 2011 and is based in Portland, Oregon.

Buy -
SELLER

JW Capital

website

Category Growth Capital Firm
Founded 2013
Size Small
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

JW Capital is a collection of entrepreneurs who look to acquire and invest in fast growing companies. JW Capital was formed in 2013 and is headquartered in South Jordan, Utah.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 1 of 2
Sector (Internet Software and Services) 1 of 2
Type (Secondary Buyout) 1 of 1
State (Utah) 1 of 2
Country (United States) 1 of 2
Year (2019) 1 of 1
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 1
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2017-01-30 Eco Flower

Ogden, Utah, United States

Eco Flower sells unique flower bouquets and miscellaneous home decor items made of recycled and sustainable materials that are environmentally responsible. Eco Flower was founded in 2014 and is based in Ogden, Utah.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2020-02-10 Simplus

Sandy, Utah, United States

Simplus is a provider of cloud consulting, implementation, data integration, change management and training services for Salesforce Quote-to-Cash applications. Simplus is based in Sandy, Utah.

Sell -
Mergr

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Company

Legal