Michael Speranza named CEO of the new company that offers the most comprehensive portfolio of Vertical SaaS solutions for professional services organizations
Mavenlink and Kimble Applications announced the successful close of their merger led by Accel-KKR, a global technology-focused private equity firm. Existing Kimble and Mavenlink investors, including Carrick Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs, will continue to be investors. The new company will accelerate the development and delivery of a wide range of vertical SaaS solutions purpose-built to help professional services organizations optimize resources and elevate operational performance to build thriving businesses.
“Our unmatched domain expertise coupled with our commitment to continued innovation on two distinct best-in-class solutions will provide our clients the capability to dynamically optimize resources – unleashing the creativity and impact of their most valuable asset: their people.”
With the full support of both company boards and current CEOs, Michael Speranza has been named CEO of the newly combined company. He has worked with numerous private equity firms to scale their portfolio companies from $100 million towards $1 billion in annual revenue. Michael has successfully guided more than 15 merger and acquisition integrations, establishing a proven track record of quickly executing on opportunities to deliver incremental client value through product functionality and service delivery advancements while accelerating company growth and financial performance.
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“Uniting two market leaders that offer unique and complementary capabilities will enable us to accelerate our efforts to build the best cloud-based solutions for professional services organizations,” said Speranza. “Our unmatched domain expertise coupled with our commitment to continued innovation on two distinct best-in-class solutions will provide our clients the capability to dynamically optimize resources – unleashing the creativity and impact of their most valuable asset: their people.”
Mavenlink CEO and co-founder Ray Grainger said, “We are excited to embark on this next chapter because it positions us to accelerate the move by professional services organizations from generalized horizontal applications to purpose-built vertical SaaS solutions.” Grainger, who will assume the role of Executive Chairman added, “I look forward to contributing to the growth of the business and elevating the importance of the need for firms to move beyond the limitations of legacy software applications and implement purpose-built solutions designed to help them overcome the unique human-centric challenges they face.”
Kimble CEO and co-founder Sean Hoban said, “The combination of our talented teams and ongoing investment across two category-leading products will ensure that customers have phenomenal choice in best-of-breed capabilities from true specialists. This merger creates the first true industry cloud offering for the next generation services organization, whether they are a small or global enterprise.”
The merger establishes the new company at the forefront of what Forrester Research calls the “human-centered technology transformation” movement.1 For professional services organizations, this means replacing horizontal software solutions and “homegrown” workflows built around spreadsheets and email with flexible automation platforms that connect multiple systems and data to enable dynamic insights into everything from resource allocation to business intelligence.
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According to Forrester: “Digital transformation has come and gone. Leading firms (will use) intelligent technologies like automation and predictions engines that focus on outcomes, not just financial results. This shift will establish a new era of transformation, one comprising human-centered tech initiatives that form a tight link between CX and EX, drive competitive advantage, and deliver a 3% to 5% net gain in productivity.”
“Accel-KKR is excited to bring together these two leaders in the professional services automation space,” said Tom Barnds, Co-Managing Partner at Accel-KKR and incoming board member. “The combined new entity has the potential to fundamentally improve how professional services organizations deliver more successful engagements for their customers in an effective and profitable manner,” jointly stated by Greg Williams and Maurice Hernandez, Managing Directors at Accel-KKR. Both Williams and Hernandez will remain as board members of the combined company.
The two companies are scheduled to be integrated and operating as one by the end of Q1 2022. In the interim, the leadership team will focus on maintaining both companies’ track records of product innovation and delivering client value and ensuring the integration effort will not impact these key focus areas.
Evercore served as M&A and d*** financing advisor to Accel-KKR and Kimble. Brodies LLP and Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisors.
SVB Tech Investment Banking and UBS served as M&A advisors to Mavenlink while K&L Gates served as legal advisor.
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