Bridgepoint acquires business software solutions provider eFront

eFront, the leading software provider of financial solutions for managing alternative investments, has been acquired by European private equity investor Bridgepoint in a transaction totalling approximately €300 million.

Headquartered in France, eFront was founded in 1999 and provides end-to-end solutions dedicated to the financial services industry, specialising in enterprise risk management and alternative investments. Its solutions serve more than 700 customers and 100,000 users in 40 countries, including some of the largest companies in the private equity, real estate investment, banking and insurance sectors.

eFront’s suite of solutions cover back office (fund administration and fund accounting), middle office (portfolio monitoring and investor portal), and front office (CRM, fund raising and deal pipeline monitoring). The company is the recognised global leader in software solutions for private equity institutions.

Commenting on the transaction, eFront founder and CEO Olivier Dellenbach, said: ‘We are very pleased to welcome Bridgepoint as a new financial partner to work with us to further accelerate our international expansion and product innovation to further facilitate our clients operations. We would like to also thank the team at Francisco Partners and their considerable support for the transformation that eFront has undergone over the last few years.’

Xavier Robert, partner of Bridgepoint, added: ‘eFront is an exciting technology platform with a robust business model and significant scope for future revenue and profitability growth. We will work with management to strengthen eFront’s market share, target new customers, enlarge its product offering and assist it in expanding into new geographies and asset classes.’

Peter Christodoulo, partner at Francisco Partners, also commented: ‘It has been a pleasure to partner with Olivier and the management team through a significant period of growth for eFront and we wish the team every success in the future.’

eFront’s core market is forecast to grow at double-digit rates, as underlying markets grow and the increasingly complex alternative investment funds scale, institutionalise and face an increasing regulatory burden.

In 2006 eFront listed on the Alternext Paris market of NYSE Euronext (ALEFT) and was taken private in 2011 by Francisco Partners who have now sold the business to Bridgepoint.

Debt for the transaction was provided by Babson Capital, ING, HSBC and Bank of Ireland.

Advisers involved in this transaction were:

for Bridgepoint – DC Advisory (corporate finance) Bain (market due diligence) Ernst & Young (financial due diligence) Latham Watkins (legal)

for eFront and Francisco Partners – Barclays Capital (corporate finance) Deloitte (financial) Kirkland & Ellis (legal) Cabinet Franklin (legal) AMMC Law (legal) Scotto & associés (management) Banque Privée 1818 (management)

About Bridgepoint
Bridgepoint is a European private equity firm focussing on the acquisition of companies valued up to €1 billion. With some €11 billion of capital raised to date, it typically focuses on acquiring well managed companies in attractive sectors with the potential to grow organically or through acquisition. It has offices throughout Europe in Frankfurt, Istanbul, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Stockholm and a portfolio development office in Shanghai. Bridgepoint is currently raising a successor fund to Bridgepoint Europe IV; Bridgepoint Europe V has a target of €3.5 billion and a hard cap of €4 billion.

About eFront
eFront is a leading software provider of end-to-end solutions dedicated to the alternative assets industry. eFront's solutions serve more than 700 customers in 40 countries, including companies in the private equity, real estate, banking and insurance sectors. eFront's primary product suites offer tightly integrated solutions for streamlining the management of alternative investments. For further information, please visit: www.efront.com.

About Francisco Partners With offices in San Francisco and London, Francisco Partners is a global private equity firm which focuses on information technology. Since its launch over a decade ago, FP has invested in more than 100 technology companies, making it one of the most active investors in the industry. The firm invests in transaction values ranging from $50 million to over $2 billion, where the firm's deep sub-sector knowledge and operational expertise can help a company realize its full potential. For further information, please visit: www.franciscopartners.com.

ABOUT EFRONT
eFront’s solutions serve major companies in the private equity, real-estate investment, banking, and insurance sectors.