M&A Deal Summary

Challenger Acquires SHL Group

On July 2, 2012, Challenger acquired business services company SHL Group from VSS Capital Partners and HgCapital for 660M USD

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is Challenger’s 6th transaction in the Business Services sector.
  • This is Challenger’s largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is Challenger’s 1st transaction in the United Kingdom.
Investment Fate
  • SHL Group was divested to a consortium of buyers in 2018 for 400M USD.

M&A Deal Summary

Date 2012-07-02
Target SHL Group
Sector Business Services
Buyer(s) Challenger
Sellers(s) VSS Capital Partners
HgCapital
Deal Type Add-on Acquisition
Deal Value 660M USD

Target

SHL Group

Thames Ditton, United Kingdom
SHL Group is a global provider of talent assessment solutions. SHL Group's product portfolio of science-based assessment tools, benchmark data, predictive technologies and consultancy services drive business results by equipping organizations to assess, select, and develop the right people for the right roles. SHL Group is headquartered in Thames Ditton, United Kingdom.

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Buyer(S) 1

Buyer

Challenger

Arlington, Virginia, United States

Category Company
Founded 1979
Sector Internet Software and Services
Employees4,600
Revenue 950M USD (2016)
DESCRIPTION

Challenger is a global performance improvement platform that delivers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions focused on sales marketing and customer service training through in-person workshops, eLearning and workflow tools, diagnostic and assessment offerings, and other sales acceleration modules. Underpinned by the world-renowned, research-based Challenger and Effortless Experience methodologies, its solutions help enterprises adopt, develop, communicate, and implement more effective commercial strategies on a global scale. Challenger was founded in 1979 and is based in Arlington, Virginia.


DEAL STATS #
Overall 6 of 12
Sector (Business Services) 6 of 9
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 6 of 12
Country (United Kingdom) 1 of 1
Year (2012) 2 of 2
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 5
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2012-02-07 Valtera

Rolling Meadows, Illinois, United States

Valtera Corp., is a professional services firm that provides a unique mixture of scientific expertise, consulting, and technology to global organizations. Valtera solutions are innovative, yet practical and are tied to strategy to produce meaningful bottom line results.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2014-02-11 Talent Neuron

Santa Clara, California, United States

Talent Neuron, is a provider of market intelligence technology tools based on large-scale data analytics.

Buy -

Seller(S) 2

SELLER

VSS Capital Partners

New York, New York, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor


Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1981
PE ASSETS 4.0B USD
Size Large
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

VSS Capital Partners is a private equity firm that targets investments in the media, communications, education, and information services sectors. VSS looks for opportunities with valuable brand franchises, stable cash flows, and infrastructure to support add-ons. The Firm will consider businesses throughout North America and Europe valued between $50 and $750 million. Prospective investment situations include management buyouts/buy-ins, expansion or acquisition financings, recapitalizations, build-ups, going private transactions, and partnerships. VSS was formed in 1981 and is based in New York City.


DEAL STATS #
Overall 31 of 56
Sector (Business Services) 10 of 12
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 9 of 22
Country (United Kingdom) 4 of 7
Year (2012) 2 of 2
Size (of disclosed) 3 of 10
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2012-03-19 GL Education

Brentford, United Kingdom

GL Education is an educational multimedia company, publishing innovative, curriculum-based resources for the UK and abroad. It currently supplies more than ninety-five per cent of schools in the UK and exports to more than thirty countries internationally, with a catalogue of over 800 software and hardware products. GL Education was founded in 1980 and is based in Brentford, United Kingdom.

Sell -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2012-11-14 Tax Credit

Los Angeles, California, United States

Tax Credit is a provider of tax incentive consulting, administration and technology, serving clients from Fortune 100 to small business. The Company uses proprietary processes, software and expertise to assist the most respected regional and national companies in identifying valuable federal and state tax incentives, including state and federal research and development tax credits, state enterprise zone tax credits, national hiring incentives such as the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) and other state and federal programs. Tax Credit was founded in 2012 and is based in Los Angeles, California.

Buy -
SELLER

HgCapital

London, United Kingdom

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor


Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 2000
PE ASSETS 70.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

HgCapital is a European private equity firm focused on a wide range of transactions including public-to-private leveraged buy-outs, management buy-ins, divestitures, and turnarounds. Broad sectors of interest include consumer and leisure, healthcare, industrials, services, technology, media, and renewable energy. The Firm will consider both majority and minority investment positions. HgCapital is the successor to Mercury Capital Partners, a former unit of Merill Lynch which was spun out by management in 2000. HgCapital has offices in London and Munich.


DEAL STATS #
Overall 30 of 92
Sector (Business Services) 2 of 9
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 13 of 44
Country (United Kingdom) 17 of 46
Year (2012) 1 of 2
Size (of disclosed) 9 of 34
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2012-05-03 QUNDIS

Erfurt, Germany

QUNDIS supplies a comprehensive range of sub-metering and communication devices used to measure, collect and transmit accurate consumption data for heat and water usage at the household unit level, serving the SME independent sub-metering supplier and building technology markets across Europe. QUNDIS’ products are sold in over 30 countries, with the largest markets being Germany and Italy.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2012-08-01 PA Topco

West Midlands, United Kingdom

Parts Alliance Group Ltd. is one of the major groups of automotive parts distributors throughout the UK and Ireland. The group has 196 branches nationwide. The group incorporates several local brand identities, eight of which are owned by Parts Alliance Group. Operating as one organisation gives group the benefit of centralised support and expertise from specialist departments.

Buy -