Non-public Equity Business Cinven to Commit in Drake Software
International non-public equity firm, Cinven, has agreed to make a substantial financial commitment into Drake Software program (‘Drake’ or ‘the company’), a company of software package for tax preparers. Economic specifics of the transaction are not becoming disclosed.
Headquartered in Franklin, North Carolina, Drake is a main service provider of skilled tax preparation software. It gives the resources and methods that tax professionals have to have to make their enterprises and catch the attention of new clientele. Drake employs far more than 600 persons throughout 5 places of work in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. More than 64,000 tax specialists nationwide use Drake, and each individual calendar year the company processes additional than 33 million federal and point out-acknowledged returns. The business enterprise was proven in 1977 by founder Phil Drake.
Setting up on its effective investment in Visma, a supplier of Business Source Setting up application and services – which includes accounting, tax and payroll programs – Cinven’s Technological innovation, Media and Telecom (‘TMT’) Sector group worked intently with its US crew to discover Drake as an desirable expenditure opportunity, provided:
- The resilience and security of the skilled tax preparation marketplace
- Drake’s most effective-in-course status with its buyers, evidenced by its industry-primary client retention fees and large recurring revenues
- Its industry foremost position, with the chance for even more organic and acquisitive progress and
- The quality and breadth of the company’s software, with modern achievement in cross-offering new products and options for the introduction of insert-on items.
Cinven will be doing work with the extremely seasoned Drake management group, with Jamie Stiles continuing in his part as President and Main Executive Officer of Drake Software package.
“This is a actually excellent opportunity for Cinven to spend guiding a crew that has not only constructed a merchandise that is liked by its prospects, but also has a properly-set up posture in a stable market place with a huge vary of thrilling expansion potential customers,” said Chris Superior, Lover at Cinven. “We feel Cinven is very well positioned to aid the enterprise by means of its next phase of development, in particular supplied its track record of investing correctly in technologies-concentrated businesses these types of as Visma and Jaggaer.”
“We are delighted to have the probability to operate with Jamie and the Drake administration group. We plan to invest driving the company’s advancement strategies to expand Drake’s presence in the marketplace, renew its engineering system, and boost its product choices for the gain of Drake’s staff and buyers,” mentioned Daniel Garin, Principal at Cinven.
Cinven’s investment decision in Drake builds on its effective keep track of document in TMT, adhering to its realisations of: Visma, a top business answers company, in Might 2019 Ufinet Team, a provider of fibre infrastructure and transmission products and services to telecom operators, in July 2018 and HEG, a provider of internet hosting and domain providers, in April 2017.
Together with these realizations, Cinven has continued to actively spend in the sector, most not too long ago buying: MasMovil, a Spanish telecommunications operator Jaggaer, a world wide service provider of procurement software program for large and medium-sized enterprises RTB Residence, a international electronic advertising and marketing technological know-how service provider and Just one.com, a major European website hosting company.
The transaction is matter to customary anti-belief approvals. Ropes & Grey LLP delivered lawful advice to Cinven on the transaction. Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C. delivered legal suggestions to Drake Software program. Deloitte Company Finance LLC acted as fiscal advisor to Drake Software.
