Transcend Corporate, the Thames Valley and Birmingham based corporate finance adviser, is pleased to announce the sale of Exceedra Holdings Ltd (“Exceedra”) to AFS Technologies Inc (“AFS”), a business backed by Palo Alto based private equity fund STG Partners LLC (“STG”), for an undisclosed sum. A Transcend Corporate team, led by partner Steve Bartlett and assisted by colleague Tom Nash, acted as lead advisers to the shareholders of Exceedra.
Exceedra provides a suite of SaaS based trade promotion management/optimisation (TPM/O) software solutions to the global consumer packaged goods sector. These provide their customers with clearer visibility on trade spend ROI. Customers achieve greater performance in TPM/O, customer business planning, demand planning and sales and operation planning.
The combination of Exceedra and AFS is part of a strategy backed by STG to build a global CPG focused software solutions provider. This transaction provides Exceedra’s shareholders with an attractive outcome today, and the opportunity to participate in the growth of the combined group going forward.
Founder and CEO of Exceedra, Richard Nicholas commented: “The new combined business offers an exciting opportunity for AFS and Exceedra to accelerate expansion of their products and services offerings for consumer goods companies, improving trade spend ROI, operational efficiency and visibility. With a range of high-profile clients, the merger with AFS supports our strategy to lead the market and ensure we continue to lead future requirements”.
Joe Bellini, CEO of AFS commented “AFS’s acquisition of Exceedra provides a major growth opportunity for both our businesses through an extended product offering for our clients. The new integrated business planning and revenue management division is positioned to focus on customer value creation, which we believe will ensure continued global growth.”
Transcend Corporate partner, Steve Bartlett, commented: “This is a great deal for Exceedra’s shareholders, and we are delighted to have played a part in securing a great outcome for them. They have created a compelling business with strong IP and an attractive recurring revenue model, in a fast growing segment of the market, all of which contributed to driving a great outcome for them. They have an exciting journey to continue in partnership with AFS.”
Richard Nicholas said: “We are delighted to have closed this deal and are looking forward to the future prospects of working with AFS. Steve and his team at Transcend were instrumental in delivering value to the shareholders and ensuring this deal was done. I was impressed with their grasp of the deal and responsiveness throughout the process. I would be pleased to work with them again.”
