Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (“CD&R”) and CVC, today announced that funds managed by CVC have agreed to acquire a significant ownership position in Epicor, a global provider of industry-specific enterprise software to promote business growth. CD&R, which first invested in Epicor in 2020, and CVC will each have equal number of Board seats, with Jeff Hawn continuing to serve as Chairman. Steve Murphy will continue in his role as CEO of Epicor. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1972 and based in Austin, Texas, Epicor is a leading SaaS provider of multi-vertical Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP”) software designed to fit the precise needs of customers in a range of industrial sectors in the “Make, Move, and Sell” economy. The company’s flagship products are curated to support highly complex, industry-specific workflows and provide mission-critical support to customers seeking to drive growth and profitability in their own businesses. Epicor is an acknowledged leader in the industrial end markets it serves, including manufacturing, distribution, retail and services categories. Epicor serves approximately 23,000 customers in more than 150 countries.
“Our customers and their ambitions are the focus of what we do as we work to provide the most innovative solution sets possible,” said Steve Murphy, Epicor CEO. “CD&R’s support and partnership has been invaluable as we have accelerated the growth of our business, invested significantly in our portfolio and released a number of next-generation, cloud-ready products. We look forward to working with CVC as we continue to grow our platform capabilities, with a keen focus on better serving our dynamic customer base.”
Since CD&R’s acquisition of Epicor in 2020, the company recently surpassed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue (ARR) as a result of organic growth, including a successful transformation into a SaaS-first company, as well as complementary strategic acquisitions which expanded product capabilities and geographic reach. Epicor’s SaaS transformation and 45% annual growth in SaaS ARR have been powered by significant R&D and Go-to-Market investments, while laying the groundwork for further innovation. In May 2024, Epicor unveiled its new Epicor Grow portfolio, an integrated set of artificial intelligence (AI) and Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities powered by an industry-focused data platform tuned specifically for the requirements of the Make, Move, and Sell industries. The company’s portfolio redefines how AI-powered ERP software serves the supply chain industries and their workers, and includes Epicor Prism, a patent-pending generative AI service embedded across Epicor’s Industry ERP Cloud solution.
“When we invested in Epicor nearly four years ago, there was an attractive opportunity to build on the company’s strong foundation and to create an industry leader focused on best-in-class enterprise SaaS,” said Jeff Hawn, Epicor Chairman and CD&R Partner. “Epicor has grown to become a preeminent global platform, led by a fantastic management team which has delivered more value for customers and organizations worldwide. We are confident that by leveraging our collective experience we can continue to unlock Epicor’s potential. Our continued partnership highlights the conviction we have in this next chapter, and we are enthused to continue to support Epicor’s growth with the experienced CVC team.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Steve Murphy and the Epicor management team, along with CD&R, to support the company and its growth plans. Epicor has developed a differentiated value proposition based on its industry-leading SaaS product portfolio and demonstrated commitment to customer service excellence,” said Aaron Dupuis, a Managing Partner at CVC. “We look forward to enhancing Epicor’s next chapter of growth with further SaaS migration and geographic expansion into international regions, while continuing to drive product innovation that will benefit Epicor’s many valued customers, partners and employees,” added Sebastian Künne, Senior Managing Director at CVC.
“Steve and the rest of the management team have built a tremendous organization at Epicor,” said Harsh Agarwal, CD&R Partner. “We look forward to working with CVC to drive Epicor’s next phase of growth, while supporting the company’s culture that is essential to its success.”
Barclays is serving as lead financial advisor, with Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC serving as financial advisor, and Debevoise & Plimpton is serving as legal advisor to CD&R and Epicor. Jefferies LLC and Evercore are serving as financial advisors and White & Case is serving as legal advisor to CVC.
CVC will invest in Epicor through CVC Capital Partners IX. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in Q4 2024.
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