News

HGGC has agreed to recapitalize Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based HelpSystems, a provider of IT operations management, security, and analytics solutions. No financial terms were disclosed for the transaction that was done in partnership with H.I.G. Capital, Split Rock Capital and HelpSystems’ management team. When the deal closes, HGGC will have a controlling stake in HelpSystems.

PRESS RELEASE

PALO ALTO, Calif.—February 26, 2018—HGGC, a leading middle market private equity firm, today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to recapitalize HelpSystems (or “the Company”), a fast-growing global provider of IT operations management, security, and analytics solutions. The recapitalization led by HGGC is being done in partnership with H.I.G. Capital, Split Rock Capital and the management team, who have owned HelpSystems since 2015. Upon completion of the deal, HGGC will hold a controlling stake in HelpSystems.

Further financial details of the private transaction were not disclosed.

Based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, HelpSystems offers comprehensive end-to-end software solution suites across IT automation, security and compliance, and business intelligence. Working from nine major offices around the world, The Company serves more than 13,500 global customers across multiple industries ranging from small- and medium-size businesses to growing enterprises, Fortune 500 companies, and managed service providers. These organizations rely on HelpSystems to solve their most complex IT challenges and keep their mission-critical systems running.

“We love classic partnership deals like this,” said Rich Lawson, CEO and Co-Founder at HGGC. “We’ve had great success partnering with respected private equity firms in the past, and we’re excited to work with H.I.G., management and the other investors to build on the tremendous success HelpSystems has achieved over its history, and to accelerate its more recent growth and solutions expansion.”

“HelpSystems’ success has been fueled by its strong commitment to customers and the products they use every day, and we fully support the senior team led by CEO Chris Heim and CFO Dan Mayleben in continuing to drive this strategy,” added John Block, Principal at HGGC. “Moreover, HelpSystems is perfectly positioned to benefit from numerous market trends driving demand for its solutions, including migration to the hybrid cloud, a need to increase IT agility, increasing compliance requirements and unlocking value with analytics, to name just a few.”

HelpSystems has become the clear leader in its space over the past three years by focusing on building the industry’s most holistic portfolio of IT operations management, security and business intelligence solutions for organizations that are increasingly heterogeneous with multiple platforms. The Company’s three core business lines have a combined total addressable market of more than $67 billion that is growing annually at more than 7 percent.

“We’re thrilled to partner with HGGC and to welcome them to the HelpSystems family,” said Heim. “We are confident that HGGC shares our vision and will help us take the Company to the next level when it comes to delivering the best solutions for today’s complex, hybrid IT environment.”

“This is an exciting new chapter for our company,” added Mayleben. “This transaction provides the Company the flexibility to continue to invest in our growth while maintaining our high standards of customer service.”

Evercore served as lead advisor and Piper Jaffray also served as advisor to HelpSystems and H.I.G. William Blair and Morgan Stanley are serving as financial advisors to HGGC. Jefferies Finance LLC has agreed to provide debt financing in connection with the transaction.

About HGGC
HGGC is a leading middle-market private equity firm with $4.3 billion in cumulative capital commitments. Based in Palos Alto, Calif., HGGC is distinguished by its “Advantaged Investing” model 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 over 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.

About HelpSystems
HelpSystems aligns IT and business goals to help organizations build a competitive edge. Our software and services monitor and automate processes, encrypt and secure data, and provide easy access to the information people need. More than 13,500 organizations around the world rely on HelpSystems to make IT lives easier and keep business running smoothly. Learn more at www.helpsystems.com.