News

HGGC has has closed its previously announced acquisition of RPX Corporation, a provider of patent risk and discovery management solutions. No financial terms were disclosed; however, a previous report of this deal pegged the amount of the transaction at $10.50 per share or about $555 million.

PRESS RELEASE

PALO ALTO, Calif.—June 19, 2018—HGGC, a leading middle market private equity firm, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of RPX Corporation (RPX), a leading provider of patent risk and discovery management solutions.

“This is an exciting time for RPX, and being a private company will enable us to leverage our core strengths to drive value over the long term,” said Marty Roberts, RPX CEO. “Partnering with HGGC goes beyond access to capital: their resources and operational expertise will help us as we strengthen our patent risk and discovery management offerings and identify ways to better serve our clients.”

RPX marks HGGC’s second take-private deal, following the acquisition of Nutraceutical International Corporation, a manufacturer and distributor of natural vitamins, minerals, supplements and personal care products, which closed in August 2017. These take-private transactions demonstrate a new sourcing pool for HGGC’s well-established partnership investment strategy, which has seen HGGC invest in 27 privately-held platform businesses since inception.

“As we continue to execute and amplify our ‘Advantaged Investing’ approach over the course of raising and investing Funds II and III, we have added some great talent and enhanced our capabilities so that we can look at a broader opportunity set,” said Rich Lawson, HGGC CEO and Co-Founder. “We’ve now proven our ability to access the public markets for investment opportunities, and we’ve hit the ground running ever since we engaged David Chung to lead this effort.”

Chung, who has more than two decades of experience as a crossover private equity and public markets investor, officially joined HGGC in January 2017 as an executive director after working with the HGGC team on several opportunities in 2015 and 2016.

“There is a great deal of opportunity to invest in scalable businesses whose growth is hampered by having to satisfy the demands of being publicly held,” said Chung. “Public companies can be hindered by short-term earnings pressures and other distractions. A strategic financial partner like HGGC can alleviate some of that burden and help the management teams of companies like RPX and Nutraceutical focus on growing their businesses and building long-term value.”

HGGC will continue to source additional attractive deals in the public markets across all sectors, including key areas of historical focus and success: technology and information services, business services and industrial services.

About HGGC
HGGC is a leading middle-market private equity firm with $4.3 billion in cumulative capital commitments. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., HGGC is distinguished by its “Advantaged Investing” approach that enables the firm to source and acquire scalable businesses at attractive multiples through partnerships with management teams, founders and sponsors who reinvest alongside HGGC, creating a strong alignment of interests. Over its history, HGGC has completed more than 90 platform investments, add-on acquisitions, recapitalizations and liquidity events with an aggregate transaction value of more than $17 billion. More information is available at www.hggc.com.