Acquisitions in New York in 2019

Utilant, the provider of the Loss Control 360 SaaS platform, has acquired IMTI Systems via an asset acquisition to expand its loss control survey management capabilities and customer base. The deal (effective December 31, 2019) brings IMTI's experience, technology and data into Utilant's platform to broaden market share in the P&C insurance loss control market.

FASTSIGNS International, Inc. acquired Sign Me Up Signs & Advertising and will convert its seven locations (six on Long Island and one in New Jersey) plus a corporate office/production center to FASTSIGNS centers by February 2020. The deal expands FASTSIGNS' presence on Long Island to eight locations and Sign Me Up co-founder Bryan Schwartz will join FASTSIGNS as a franchisee.

Capitala Group has closed a credit investment in Chief Fire Prevention & Mechanical Corp, a Mount Vernon, New York-based provider of commercial kitchen exhaust and pre-engineered fire suppression system services. The investment was made in partnership with Trinity Private Equity Group to support Chief Fire's management team and enable continued market-share growth organically and through acquisitions.

Affiliates of funds advised by BC Partners completed an all-cash acquisition of Presidio, Inc. for approximately $2.2 billion (including net debt), taking the company private and resulting in the delisting of Presidio’s common stock. BC Partners said the transaction will support Presidio’s growth initiatives and strategic investments to expand its digital infrastructure, cloud and security capabilities.

Bain & Company acquired Pyxis, an alternative data consumer-behavior analytics firm, to strengthen Bain's Advanced Analytics Group and improve due diligence and investment analysis for private equity, institutional and corporate clients. The acquisition integrates Pyxis' proprietary algorithms and large consumer datasets with Bain's consulting capabilities to provide more granular market-share, pricing and consumer-behavior insights.

AmeriLife Group, LLC has acquired a majority interest in Agent Support Group (ASG), a long-established life insurance brokerage agency serving the New York metropolitan area. ASG's three partners will continue to lead the business from its New York office as part of AmeriLife's expanded annuity and retirement planning brokerage distribution channel, enhancing AmeriLife's advanced case, underwriting and high-net-worth capabilities.

KORE Wireless Group (KORE) has acquired Integron, an IoT solutions and managed services provider with offices in Rochester, New York and Ulestraten, Netherlands. The deal expands KORE’s IoT solutions, managed services and connected-health capabilities, bringing Integron’s certifications and expertise in healthcare, pharmaceuticals and life sciences into the KORE portfolio.

LiveVox, the San Francisco-based provider of cloud omnichannel customer engagement and contact center software, has acquired Teckst, a New York–based enterprise messaging platform. The acquisition adds real-time, two-way messaging (SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber) capabilities to LiveVox’s U-Series omnichannel engagement suite to expand its digital messaging and omnichannel customer engagement functionality.

BISNOW Media has acquired SelectLeaders, the leading commercial real estate job board, in an all-cash transaction that closed in December 2019. SelectLeaders’ founder and owner Susan Phillips will transition away from day-to-day management while the existing team will stay on and integrate into BISNOW’s platform as BISNOW looks to expand its data-driven, technology-enabled offerings for the commercial real estate industry.

Alerian has acquired S-Network Global Indexes, a publisher and developer of more than 300 proprietary and custom indexes. The deal expands Alerian's global indexing, analytics and data capabilities and results in index-linked AUM of roughly $20 billion across the combined suite of indexes.

International Wire Group (IWG) has acquired Owl Wire and Cable from Marmon Holdings, Inc. The transaction adds Owl’s high-volume bare and tinned copper wire manufacturing operations in Canastota, Rome and Boonville, New York to IWG’s U.S. and European manufacturing footprint, expanding IWG’s product capabilities and capacity to serve industrial, electronics, aerospace and automotive end markets.

EAB, an education research and services firm based in Washington, D.C., has acquired YouVisit, a New York–based provider of virtual campus tours and immersive interactive content for higher education. The acquisition integrates YouVisit’s 360°/immersive content platform and production capabilities into EAB’s enrollment and digital marketing services to help colleges improve recruiting and online engagement.

Reorg, a New York-based financial media and technology company, has acquired Dai1 Media, a subscription-based news service focused on special situations and distressed investing in China. The acquisition expands Reorg's Asia coverage and brings Dai1's editorial team and specialized China expertise into Reorg's global offering; terms were not disclosed.

Renovus Capital Partners has recapitalized ClinicalMind, LLC to support expansion of the medical communications agency and growth of its enGauge SaaS technology. The equity financing will fund expansion of ClinicalMind’s strategic and tactical agency services and its physician-engagement and medical affairs SaaS platform; Excel Partners advised the sell-side while DLA Piper and BrownRudnick served as legal counsel.

12 ReTech Corporation (OTC: RETC) acquired Social Decay, LLC dba Social Sunday via an equity exchange in which founder Samantha Sisca exchanged 100% of her equity for Series D-6 preferred shares. Social Sunday is a U.S.-made women's apparel brand (founded 2014) with wholesale distribution into ~500 retailers and growing e-commerce sales; 12 ReTech said it will consolidate the brand into its apparel operations and integrate sales channels and retail technology to drive revenue growth and cost savings. The acquisition will be reflected in 12 ReTech's consolidated financials beginning with its FY2019 Form 10-K.

Toronto-based social intelligence platform Trufan has acquired SocialRank, a New York–based audience segmentation and analytics platform. The deal transfers SocialRank's technology, customer list, brand and website to Trufan while SocialRank's founders will serve as strategic advisors and SocialRank will continue to operate as a standalone product.

Schweiger Dermatology Group (SDG) has completed the acquisition of Dermatology Associates at Crystal Run (DACR), adding DACR’s two locations in Middletown and Port Jervis, New York to SDG’s network. The deal brings DACR’s team of providers into SDG as the group expands its footprint in upstate New York and centralizes practice management to allow clinicians to focus on patient care.

Compass has acquired Detectica, a New York City–based artificial intelligence and machine learning company. Detectica’s founders and team join Compass’s AI group to deepen the company’s AI/ML capabilities and accelerate features such as personalized recommendations and similar-home matching across the Compass real estate platform.

Marlin Equity Partners' portfolio company Serenova has acquired ProScheduler WFM and will merge its workforce-management technology into Serenova's CxEngage CCaaS platform. The acquisition adds enterprise-grade forecasting and scheduling capabilities to Serenova's contact-center offering, expanding its functionality for global enterprises and BPOs.

Five Points Capital, alongside co-investors Pleasant Bay Capital, Crescendo Capital and Capital Southwest Corporation and new CEO Mike Dager, completed a recapitalization of GrammaTech, a developer of software-assurance tools and application-security solutions. The transaction establishes a new leadership team (Mike Dager as CEO) and positions GrammaTech to expand in the growing application-security market serving government and commercial clients.

Infutor, a consumer identity management firm, has acquired Dunn Data Company, a New York-based marketing intelligence provider that specializes in consumer identity, demographic, lifestyle and affinity attribute data. The acquisition augments Infutor's TruthSet Identity Graph with Dunn's Consumer Affinity Index and transactional attribute datasets to deepen personalization and consumer insights across marketing and risk use cases.

Amperity, an AI-powered customer data management platform, has acquired Custora, a customer analytics platform for consumer brands, to combine Customer 360 capabilities with best-in-class analytics and activation tools. Custora will become Amperity's East Coast headquarters, and the combined team will total approximately 175 employees.

Seismic, the San Diego–based sales enablement platform, has acquired Percolate, a New York–based marketing campaign orchestration and content management platform. The deal combines Seismic's sales enablement and asset management capabilities with Percolate's content orchestration tools to provide marketers enterprise-scale content production, planning and distribution.

SparkPost announced it will acquire eDataSource to combine its high-volume email sending platform with eDataSource's inbox performance and deliverability analytics. The deal creates an integrated sending-and-analytics offering designed to improve inbox placement, engagement, and measurement for enterprise email marketers.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. completed the acquisition of LiquidityEdge on November 1, 2019 for approximately $150 million (about $100 million cash plus 146,450 shares of MarketAxess common stock). The purchase adds an electronic U.S. Treasuries marketplace and broker-dealer capabilities to MarketAxess' fixed-income trading platform, expanding its treasury trading and hedging capabilities for institutional clients and dealers.

Veeva Systems acquired Crossix Solutions for $430 million in a transaction announced September 26, 2019 and closed November 1, 2019. Crossix — a privacy-safe patient data and analytics provider headquartered in New York City — will operate as an independent business unit within Veeva, with Crossix CEO Asaf Evenhaim continuing to lead; certain Crossix employees received long-term equity retention grants valued at about $120 million.

The Pritzker Organization (advising Tom Pritzker Family Business Interests) will recapitalize STV Group by purchasing ESOP-held shares and partnering with management to support future growth. The transaction, approved by STV's board and ESOP trustee Greatbanc Trust Company with Houlihan Lokey advising STV, is expected to close in December 2019.

Falcon.io, the social media management division of Cision, has acquired Unmetric to integrate Unmetric’s social benchmarking and historical content performance insights into Falcon.io’s social media marketing platform. The acquisition is intended to expand Falcon.io’s analytics and benchmarking capabilities and provide a unified social content, engagement and insights offering to brands and agencies.

An affiliate of WH Smith PLC has agreed to acquire The Marshall Retail Group (MRG) from Brentwood Associates. MRG, a leading U.S. travel and resort specialty retailer operating more than 170 locations and ~1,200 employees, will continue to be led by CEO Michael Wilkins; the transaction is expected to close by Q1 2020 subject to customary conditions.

Boathouse Capital completed a growth investment in Splashlight (via its holding company LiiV), providing capital that enabled LiiV to acquire Telmar, a 51-year-old media insights and planning company with ~25,000 users. The combination of Splashlight's visual content capabilities and Telmar's audience and media-planning analytics is intended to create a new "creative intelligence" offering for marketers and agencies.

Victor Capital Partners made a minority growth investment in Rizzo Group to support the company's innovation, technology-enabled solutions, geographic expansion, and add-on acquisition strategy. Management (including CEO Stephen Rizzo and founder Charles Rizzo) will remain in place and retain significant ownership while Victor Capital will provide board representation and resources to accelerate growth.

Victor Capital Partners has made a minority growth investment in CodeGreen Solutions, a New York–based provider of energy management and sustainability services for commercial real estate. The capital will support CodeGreen’s geographic expansion, innovation in technology-enabled services (including its ProAct software), and pursuit of add-on acquisitions while management retains a significant ownership stake.

Hazeltree has acquired ENSO Financial Analytics, a provider of portfolio analytics for hedge funds and prime brokers, from CME Group. IHS Markit participated in the investment alongside existing investors; ENSO will be integrated into Hazeltree's treasury and portfolio finance product suite to expand analytics and data capabilities for asset managers.

ICV Partners has made an investment in Horizon Air Freight, a New York–based specialized freight forwarder focused on marine logistics, spare parts consolidation and urgent shipments for shipping companies and cruise lines. ICV positions HAF as a platform investment and plans to support growth through strategic acquisitions and expansion of capabilities and geographic reach.

Broadridge Financial Solutions has acquired Shadow Financial Systems, a provider of multi-asset class post-trade solutions, adding capabilities across exchange-traded derivatives and cryptocurrency post-trade processing. The acquisition expands Broadridge's post-trade offering for exchanges, inter-dealer brokers and proprietary trading firms and brings Shadow's technology and expertise into Broadridge's global fintech platform.

AudienceView, a Toronto-based provider of e-commerce SaaS for events, has acquired New York-based UniversityTickets, a ticketing and event management solution focused on higher education. The acquisition strengthens AudienceView’s product portfolio and leadership in the higher education market by adding UniversityTickets’ campus-specific features and footprint of more than 450 colleges and universities.

Sentinel Capital Partners has completed a recapitalization of New Era Technology, partnering with New Era's management team and incumbent investor Gemini Investors. The transaction (terms not disclosed) positions New Era to continue its organic growth and pursue additional add-on acquisitions to expand its managed services and systems-integration capabilities.

Iron Creek Partners, alongside investor SKP Holdings (led by Shashank Patel), completed a recapitalization of Prism Visual Software, a Roslyn, New York-based provider of direct store delivery (DSD) and route accounting software. Shashank Patel joined as CEO and Lorraine Keating will remain as President; the investment is intended to support Prism’s product development, organic growth and potential acquisitions in the DSD software space.

Chicago-based private equity firm Wind Point Partners has acquired a controlling interest in U.S. Nonwovens, Inc., a Brentwood, New York-based manufacturer of personal care, OTC, cosmetic, laundry and household cleaning products. The Mehdizadeh family (company co-founders) retain significant equity and will remain involved while Wind Point will back organic growth and pursue add-on acquisitions to expand USN's product and manufacturing capabilities.

Zeta Global has acquired certain programmatic business operations from IgnitionOne, including sales and client-management teams in the United States and Brazil. The deal brings programmatic technology, clients and personnel into Zeta’s programmatic division to expand its DSP, data assets and managed programmatic services.

United Virtualities, a New York-based tech consultancy, has acquired Sawyer Effect, a boutique New York and Guadalajara-based software development and ecommerce consultancy. The deal expands United Virtualities' ecommerce and Adobe Experience Manager capabilities and adds a Latin America delivery presence; terms were not disclosed.

Albireo Energy, the building automation and energy services platform backed by Huron Capital, has acquired Environmental Energy Corp. (EEC), a Deer Park, New York–based energy management systems provider serving large commercial and higher education buildings. The deal is an add-on to Albireo's platform intended to expand its presence in the New York metropolitan market and broaden its building automation capabilities.

GenNx360 Capital Partners has made a platform investment in Schneider Packaging Equipment Company, a Brewerton, New York-based manufacturer of end-of-line packaging machinery. Harvey & Company participated as a co-investor and adviser; Schneider (~135 employees) will partner with GenNx360 to pursue organic and inorganic growth across end markets including food & beverage, healthcare and consumer products.

Los Angeles-based private investment firm Pacific Avenue Capital Partners acquired Unitec Elevator from United Technologies in a corporate divestiture. Pacific Avenue intends to invest in the business to scale through organic growth and add-on M&A; Unitec provides elevator maintenance, modernization and code-compliance services across New York City.

Aterian Investment Partners, a New York-based private investment firm, has entered into a strategic partnership with PJ Mechanical, a leading full-service mechanical contractor based in New York City. The investment will support PJ Mechanical's next phase of growth while preserving the company's family-led culture and continuing to serve large commercial, healthcare and infrastructure clients across the NYC market.

Trackforce has acquired Valiant Solutions and, with a majority investment from K1 Investment Management, the combined business will operate as Trackforce Valiant — an end-to-end security workforce management software platform. The transaction brings together Trackforce's front-line security tools and Valiant's payroll/HCM capabilities to create an integrated SaaS solution for security guard companies, airports, universities and corporate security teams.

SOCOTEC Group has acquired ArchEng Holding Company d/b/a Vidaris from Cortec Group Fund V, L.P.; terms were not disclosed. Vidaris, a New York–headquartered multidisciplinary specialty consultancy with ~300 professionals, was owned by Cortec since 2015 and expanded significantly under its ownership. SOCOTEC, controlled by affiliates of Cobepa, will integrate Vidaris to broaden its technical inspection, assurance and advisory capabilities and U.S. footprint.

Dubin Clark & Company, Inc. acquired Astar Heating & Air, LLC, a regional provider of HVAC replacement, maintenance and plumbing services serving more than 20,000 residential homeowners in New York’s lower Hudson Valley. Midwest Mezzanine provided subordinated debt and equity to support the transaction.

Yankee Global Enterprises, together with strategic partners Sinclair Broadcast Group and Amazon and financial investors RedBird Capital, Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Mubadala Capital, purchased the 80% of the YES Network not already held by Yankee Global from The Walt Disney Company at a reported enterprise value of $3.47 billion. The consortium aims to expand distribution, strengthen the network's sports content capabilities and leverage partner expertise to grow YES across traditional and digital platforms.

Bazaarvoice, a Marlin Equity Partners portfolio company, has acquired Influenster, a product discovery and reviews platform with a community of nearly six million members. The deal merges Influenster's consumer-driven content and sampling capabilities with Bazaarvoice's global UGC and retail network to expand product review coverage and capabilities for brands and retailers.