M&A Deal Summary

Meritage Group Acquires Liaison

On November 22, 2019, asset manager Meritage Group acquired software company Liaison from Polaris Partners and Warburg Pincus

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is Meritage Group’s 1st transaction in the Software sector.
  • This is Meritage Group’s 1st transaction in the United States.
  • This is Meritage Group’s 1st transaction in Massachusetts.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 2019-11-22
Target Liaison
Sector Software
Buyer(s) Meritage Group
Sellers(s) Polaris Partners
Warburg Pincus
Deal Type Secondary Buyout

Target

Liaison

Watertown, Massachusetts, United States
Liaison is a provider of SaaS-based outsourced software solutions for academic programs within postsecondary institutions. Through their solutions, Liaison helps academic programs manage labor intensive processes such as admissions and accreditation. Liaison was founded in 1990 and is based in Watertown, Massachusetts.

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Buyer(S) 1

Buyer

Meritage Group

Investor Investor

Category Asset Manager
Founded 1997
PE ASSETS 10.7B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Meritage Group is an asset manager and advisory group that manages investments, both directly and through external managers, in public and private equity, credit and real estate. Meritage Group was formed in 1997 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 1 of 1
Sector (Software) 1 of 1
Type (Secondary Buyout) 1 of 1
State (Massachusetts) 1 of 1
Country (United States) 1 of 1
Year (2019) 1 of 1

Seller(S) 2

SELLER

Polaris Partners

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

Category Growth Capital Firm
Founded 1996
PE ASSETS 5.0B USD
Size Large
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Polaris Partners is primarily a seed, first round, and early stage venture capital investor in information technology and life science businesses. However, Polaris also focuses on private equity investments in established companies. In this area, Polaris targets high growth middle market companies in industries including technology, healthcare, digital media, consumer products and services, and business services. The firm's investments include minority growth equity investments, recapitalizations with liquidity, and leveraged buyouts. Polaris Partners was formed in 1996 and has offices in Seattle, Washington and Waltham, Massachusetts.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 23 of 33
Sector (Software) 3 of 5
Type (Secondary Buyout) 8 of 9
State (Massachusetts) 3 of 6
Country (United States) 21 of 30
Year (2019) 2 of 3
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2019-11-20 Cardurion

Burlington, Massachusetts, United States

Cardurion is a clinical stage platform company that is developing therapies for cardiovascular disease. Cardurion was founded in 2017 and is based in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2019-12-10 Earth Networks

Germantown, Maryland, United States

Earth Networks helps organizations mitigate financial, operational and human risk by providing environmental intelligence from the world’s largest hyperlocal weather network. Schools, airports, sports teams, utilities, and government agencies rely on our early warning solutions to safeguard lives, prepare for weather events and optimize operations. Companies across all industries use Earth Networks weather data to automate decisions regarding risk management, business continuity, and asset protection. Earth Networks was founded in 1993 and is based in Germantown, Maryland.

Sell -
SELLER

Warburg Pincus

New York, New York, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1966
PE ASSETS 83.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Warburg Pincus is a mega-sized, global private equity firm focused on investment opportunities across North America, Asia, and Europe. Warburg will consider investing at various company stages, from early-stage opportunities to distressed situations. Warburg Pincus is organized by industry groups. Verticals include financial services, healthcare, technology, media & telecommunications, energy, consumer & industrial, and real estate. Within financial services, Warburg will consider asset/wealth managers, banks, exchanges, financial technology, insurance, transaction processing, private banking, and specialty/consumer finance. Within healthcare, specific areas of interest include medical devices, healthcare services, and biotech/pharmaceuticals. Within technology/media/communications, Warburg targets software, media/internet/information, financial technology, telecom, business services, and systems/semiconductors. Within energy, specific areas of interest include oil/gas exploration, power generation/transmission, and alternative energy. Warburg Pincus raised its first fund in 1966 and is based in New York City.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 192 of 251
Sector (Software) 15 of 22
Type (Secondary Buyout) 32 of 42
State (Massachusetts) 7 of 7
Country (United States) 110 of 137
Year (2019) 20 of 21
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2019-11-19 Perfios

Bangalore, India

Perfios is a product technology company in the fintech space enabling financial institutions in realtime decisioning, analysis, and credit underwriting. Perfios provides products across bank statement analysis, e-verification, financial analysis, fraud checks, Form 26AS, ITR analysis, personal finance management, etc. Perfios was founded in 2008 and is based in Bangalore, India.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2019-11-25 Varicent

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Varicent is a provider of Smart SPM (sales performance management) cloud-enabled software for mid-market and enterprise companies in any industry. Its augmented intelligence-powered platform enables customers to quickly and easily see and address sales trends, problem areas, and opportunities, by predicting outcomes and prescribing actions to optimize revenue. Varicent pioneered incentive compensation and sales performance software helps customers manage highly complex compensation plans, territories and revenue goals. Varicent was founded in 2003 and is based in Toronto, Ontario.

Buy -
Mergr

Product

Company

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