News

Providence Equity Partners has made an investment in KPA, a provider of environmental health and safety risk management solutions. No financial terms were disclosed. As a result of the transaction, KPA’s previous backer CIVC Partners will retain a minority stake.

PRESS RELEASE

LAFAYETTE, Colo.—August 8, 2018—KPA (“the Company”), a leader in Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Risk Management, today announced that Providence Equity Partners (“Providence”) has completed its majority investment in the Company. Existing investor CIVC Partners will retain a minority investment in the Company going forward. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Providence is a leading global private equity firm with deep experience in the compliance sector that KPA can leverage to further accelerate its organic growth and acquisition strategy going forward.

“We believe the compliance market has tremendous potential for long-term growth and that KPA will continue to capitalize on its leading middle-market position for subscription-based compliance solutions. KPA is a highly attractive compliance platform with outstanding client retention, high recurring revenue, consistent organic growth, and a strong track record integrating acquisitions. We are excited to partner with KPA’s strong leadership team to accelerate their growth strategy and create lasting value for the Company,” said Will Hughes, Managing Director at Providence.

KPA’s EHS Risk Management solutions provide the visibility and actionable insight necessary to proactively mitigate operational, regulatory and compliance-related risks. KPA’s comprehensive solutions include EHS software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) and on-site audit/loss control services; Human Capital Management (HCM) SaaS solutions; and for the retail automotive dealer market, Finance and Insurance (F&I) SaaS and on-site audit solutions. The Company serves the compliance needs of primarily middle-market organizations with distributed locations in the automotive, insurance, manufacturing, and distribution & logistics industries.

“CIVC is proud to have been a part of KPA’s fantastic growth in the compliance marketplace over the past four years during which time the Company has launched new product lines, expanded to new end markets, and tripled earnings,” said Scott Schwartz, Partner at CIVC Partners. “We’re excited to continue our investment in the Company and look forward to partnering with KPA during this next phase of growth.”

“The Providence Equity Partners investment validates the growing demand for compliance solutions and KPA’s attractive metrics, while strategically positioning KPA to be a dominant compliance platform,” said Vane Clayton, Chairman and CEO of KPA. “Providence’s strong experience in automotive and compliance software, including its investments in Autotrader, OEConnection and Vector Solutions, aligns well with KPA’s future strategic objectives. Overall, Providence’s expertise, culture and team are an excellent fit for KPA.”

About KPA
Since 1986, KPA has been a market leader in cloud-based EHS risk management solutions for the automotive, collision repair, manufacturing, insurance, and distribution & logistics industries. KPA’s innovative software platform combined with recurring on-site audit/loss control services delivers a comprehensive solution that helps 10,000+ client locations achieve regulatory compliance; control risk; protect assets; and effectively train, retain, and manage people. For more information, go to www.kpaonline.com or call 866.356.1735.

About Providence Equity Partners (“Providence”)
Providence is a premier global asset management firm with $58 billion in assets under management across complementary private equity and credit businesses. Providence pioneered a sector-focused approach to private equity investing with the vision that a dedicated team of industry experts could build exceptional companies of enduring value. Since the firm’s inception in 1989, Providence has invested in more than 160 companies and has become a leading equity investment firm focused on the media, communications, education and information industries. Providence is headquartered in Providence, RI, and also has offices in New York and London. For more information, please visit www.provequity.com.

About CIVC Partners, L.P. (“CIVC”)
CIVC Partners is a Chicago-based private equity firm investing in high growth middle market companies in the business services and financial services sectors. Since 1989, the team has invested $1.6 billion in 62 platform companies and currently invests from CIVC Partners Fund V. More information on CIVC Partners and its portfolio companies can be found at www.civc.com.