Transactions / M&A · Private Capital
Optimal Workshop
Shareholder liquidity and growth capital from a strategic investor
- Scale
- Majority sale
- Counterparty
- Pioneer Capital
- Arcbridge role
- Strategic & capital adviser
- Status
- Completed
Summary
Refinancing existing shareholders while bringing in a strategic investor to fund international growth for a Wellington-headquartered software company.
- Situation
- Optimal Workshop is a software-as-a-service company whose tools help large organisations design better user experiences. It is headquartered in Wellington with a growing presence in Ireland and the United States. Following a family event, some shareholders needed to sell part of their holding, and the company needed capital to expand into the US and European markets.
- Structure
- Arcbridge first reviewed the strategic options with every shareholder: a secondary sale, a combined primary and secondary sale, a full sale with possible earn-out, or continued organic growth. The shareholders chose a combined primary and secondary transaction, giving partial liquidity to exiting shareholders and new capital to the company.
- Capital
- A global process targeting New Zealand and Australian private equity firms and technology investors in the United States and Europe, run to a tight timetable with clear milestones. The total sale of more than 50% of the company made it attractive to private equity.
- Strategic outcome
- Several investors were interested, and the resulting competitive tension delivered a strong valuation. The company partnered with Pioneer Capital, a New Zealand private equity investor focused on businesses growing in large international markets.
Process
How the platform was built.
- 01Shareholder reviewInterviews with all shareholders to understand objectives and constraints.
- 02Strategic optionsSecondary sale, primary and secondary sale, full sale or organic growth, with the merits of each.
- 03Global processTargeted approach to ANZ private equity and US and European technology investors.
- 04Negotiation & closeCompetitive tension between interested investors used to secure value and terms.
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