Climb's M&A Weekly: Deals by Genstar Capital, Advantive and Diversis Capital

Welcome to Climb Advisor’s weekly deal newsletter highlighting transactions announced last week across the B2B tech landscape.

Climb Advisors is an M&A and credit advisory firm focused on B2B software and services companies in the range of $5m to $100m+ enterprise value. We guide CEOs and business owners through the process of selling their business & assist investors in sourcing & closing great deals. We love to talk markets and share beneficial information - please reach out any time.

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Genstar Capital acquires a majority share in Docupace

Overview: Genstar has made a major investment in Docupace, a provider of software to help wealth management companies and financial advisors streamline and digitize back end operations. Their cloud-based platform automates a wide range of tasks including client onboarding, document management and compliance tracking, ultimately helping advisors reduce expenses while improving overall efficiency and customer experience. Read more here .

Climb Comment: Congrats to all here- FTV Capital made a growth investment in Docupace in 2020 & will remain in a minority position on the cap table. Docupace has built an all-in-one platform for wealth managers to manage front & back-office communications, specifically around document processing & client onboarding. Investment in the automation of back office functions or manual repetitive tasks has only accelerated with the onset of AI.

TA Associates and ST6 Partners backed Advantive continues global expansion with deal for Pepperi

Overview: Advantive’s deal for Abaca Systems (link ) last November, signaled the Tampa-based company’s intentions to go global, & this deal for Pepperi further underlines those intentions. The Israeli company’s omni-channel B2B sales platform for wholesalers and distributors serves over 1,000 customers, helping these organizations consolidate their sales operations in one place. This acquisition adds both tech and customers as the acquirer continues to establish themselves as a leader in mission critical software for specialty manufacturing and distribution companies worldwide. Read more here .

Climb Comment: Advantive is a growing leader in the manufacturing vertical, offering a full suite of ERP & adjacent products to manufacturers and distributors worldwide. Here they acquire new customer channels but also expand deeper into the orgs they serve by offering unified commerce channels and field rep management tools. Keeping data and users inside Advantive’s platform delivers better customer results & builds value in the business overall.

Diversis Capital secures majority stake in Decision Lens

Overview: Tech focused lower middle market PE fund Diversis Capital has made a majority investment in Decision Lens. The Arlington based company provides financial planning software to government agencies, helping them make better decisions around how to allocate resources and speed up the overall time this process takes. Their solutions also help with longer-term budget planning with this influx of capital expected to be used on product development. Read more here.

Climb Comment: Govtech appetite remains strong, especially for solutions like Decision Lens with clear reason-to-exist and established base within multiple agencies/departments. Budgeting is likely the most challenging, scrutinized, & time-consuming function for most public sector entities and tools like Decision Lens make a big difference. With added capital to build new features & further improve the platform the future looks bright.

Permira backed Mimecast acquires Code42

Overview: Mimecast is acquiring Code42 to add valuable insider threat management and response capabilities to their human risk management platform. Code42’s cloud-based solutions help companies protect critical data from exposure, loss, leak and theft, while accelerating incident response times. The two companies had already been working together to help organizations manage and mitigate human-centered security risks. Read more here .

Climb Comment: Sizable (though undisclosed) deal in cybersecurity here. Code42 had raised $138m over two rounds in 2012 & 2015 from notable investors including JMI, NEA, Accel Partners, & Split Rock Partners - Code42 made some publicized layoffs in July of last year to toggle into profitability and today shows ~250 employees on LinkedIn. The addition of Code42 adds deeper capabilities & cloud-native insider threat management.

“Mimecast’s platform stands out in our crowded industry by focusing specifically on the critical moment of risk—a person opening their laptop,” said Mimecast Chief Executive Officer, Marc van Zadelhoff

UK based Magic Numbers bought by Analytics Partners

Overview: Marketing analytics firm Magic Numbers has been bought by Analytics Partners, a leader in commercial analytics headquartered in Miami, Florida. Magic Numbers will remain an independent brand post transaction but both their offerings and numbers are sure to benefit from the Analytics Partners’ scale, technology platforms and global presence. Meanwhile the acquirer will be able to use this deal to establish a deeper presence in the UK and EMEA markets. Read more here .

Climb Comment: Analytics are becoming ever more important in marketing as agencies & in-house teams look to attribute spend to success & need tooling & consultancy to make that happen. In this case, Analytics Partners provides a platform, dashboarding, & benchmarking to that effect and Magic Numbers takes a more hands-on & bespoke approach. Certainly synergy opportunities for the two businesses to combine strengths & an excellent European beachhead for Analytics Partners in the deal.

Presentation of the week

RCP Advisors have just released the first of a 3 part series on why they believe smaller buyouts represent the most compelling opportunities to generate high and consistent returns. We agree.

This section takes a detailed look at what they call “observed structural advantages in the lower middle market” exploring why factors such as lower valuations, less competitive processes and more scope for companies to grow, make smaller buyouts more attractive than ever before. Read the full report here .

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Thanks for following along & hope you found something useful or interesting.

All the best,

Nick Cellura

Principal, Climb Advisors

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