ECI To Be Acquired

(NOVEMBER 19, 2020) - ECI Software Solutions has announced it is to have a new private equity majority owner.

The business management software provider – which is a key partner for many independent office products resellers – has announced that Leonard Green & Partners (LGP) will acquire a majority stake in the company from funds advised by Apax Partners and The Carlyle Group. Upon completion of the transaction, Apax, which acquired ECI in 2017, will retain a minority stake in the business. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Under the Apax and Carlyle ownership, ECI has made 15 acquisitions in different industry verticals – helping it gain share and scale internationally – with sizable transactions in Europe and Australia consolidating its presence in those regions.

“The ECI team and I have had a powerful partnership with Apax and Carlyle as we have built the company into a leading SaaS business software solutions and services provider,” said ECI CEO Ron Books. “They have been instrumental in the tremendous growth of our company, and we are proud of what we accomplished together. We are excited to welcome LGP as our new partner, and I am confident that this is the right choice for our future – and the future of our 1,700 employees and more than 22,000 customers.”

Usama Cortas, Partner at LGP, commented: “We invest in companies that win with people, have a differentiated culture and are market leaders with multiple ways to grow – and ECI is the perfect example. [It] has built an incredible track record of success, and we are excited to be partnering with ECI Management and Apax to support and accelerate the next phase of the company’s growth.”

Earlier this year, there was speculation that Apax was looking to sell part of its stake in ECI. At the time, Books told OPI that reports in the financial press “were only partially correct”, but that ECI had been approached by a number of private equity firms. - (OPI)