- Partners Group will join existing owner CVC Growth Funds on VelocityEHS' board
- The Company's SaaS products help customers comply with environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations, power sustainability initiatives, and drive operational excellence
- The EHS and ESG software markets continue to benefit from strong thematic trends such as growing pressure on companies to decarbonise
Partners Group, a leading global private markets firm, has, on behalf of its clients, agreed to acquire a significant minority stake in VelocityEHS ("the Company"), a leading environmental, health, and safety ("EHS") and environmental, social and governance ("ESG") software platform based in the US, from CVC Growth Funds ("CVC Growth"). Following the transaction, Partners Group will join CVC Growth on the Company's board.
Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Chicago, VelocityEHS is a Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") platform offering products that help customers comply with a wide range of EHS laws and regulations, manage and reduce risk, and improve operational efficiency. VelocityEHS offers EHS software solutions that help customers across various use cases, including ESG management, Environmental Compliance, Safety, Ergonomics, Control of Work, Operational Risk, and Health. The Company has over 18,000 customers, with a focus on serving the manufacturing, food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals sectors. The EHS/ESG software market is benefitting from strong thematic trends such as growing pressure on companies to decarbonise and disclose environmental sustainability information, as well as an increasingly complex regulatory environment. CVC Growth acquired VelocityEHS in 2017.
Following the investment, Partners Group and CVC Growth will work with the Company's management team to continue to drive growth at VelocityEHS and cement its position as a leading player in the EHS and ESG software market worldwide. Key transformational value creation initiatives will include accelerating the growth of the Company's ESG product, expanding into international markets, developing new products, and pursuing strategic acquisitions.
John Damgaard, Chief Executive Officer, VelocityEHS, comments: "EHS/ESG software adoption in the US and around the world is rising as organisations seek operational excellence and sustainable operations. Our massive customer base includes some of the world's most admired companies. Our enterprise-grade VelocityEHS Accelerate® platform with embedded ActiveEHS® technology, and our award-winning solution set, allow us to have a very real impact in making workplaces safer and more sustainable up and down supply chains worldwide. We are very excited to continue our journey to establish the global category leader in EHS/ESG software with two world-class global financial sponsors in CVC Growth and Partners Group."
Chris Russell, Managing Director, Private Equity, Technology Industry Vertical, Partners Group, says: "Our thematic research identified EHS as an attractive sub-sector of the US software market due to its large size, strong secular growth trends, and fragmented landscape. VelocityEHS is a market-leading SaaS platform in this space, with a comprehensive product portfolio, and we have strong conviction in its future prospects. We look forward to working with management and our partners at CVC on scaling VelocityEHS further and executing on the value creation plan."
Aaron Dupuis, Partner at CVC, adds: "We are proud of the fantastic progress VelocityEHS has made since we invested in 2017. Working in close partnership with John and his team, we have been able to significantly accelerate the Company's development both organically and through acquisition. We have enhanced the Company's leading market position and expanded its addressable markets through new product launches and geographic expansion. We know Partners Group well and are very pleased to bring them on board and look forward to working closely with them to realise this next stage of growth for VelocityEHS."
Partners Group was advised by Ropes & Gray LLP and Price WaterhouseCoopers LLP; CVC Growth by Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and William Blair; and VelocityEHS by Burns & Levinson, LLP.
We know Partners Group well and are very pleased to bring them on board and look forward to working closely with them to realise this next stage of growth for VelocityEHS.
Aaron Dupuis
Aaron Dupuis, Partner at CVC, adds: "We are proud of the fantastic progress VelocityEHS has made since we invested in 2017. Working in close partnership with John and his team, we have been able to significantly accelerate the Company's development both organically and through acquisition. We have enhanced the Company's leading market position and expanded its addressable markets through new product launches and geographic expansion. We know Partners Group well and are very pleased to bring them on board and look forward to working closely with them to realise this next stage of growth for VelocityEHS."
Partners Group was advised by Ropes & Gray LLP and Price WaterhouseCoopers LLP; CVC Growth by Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and William Blair; and VelocityEHS by Burns & Levinson, LLP.