Client Situation
A mid-market private equity firm focused on platform investments in growth-oriented, middle-market companies was looking to provide capital in support of an acquisition and growth to a leading SaaS platform offering property management organizations and homeowner associations integrated workflow tools to manage their community operations. As this was one of their first investments in the residential sector, the client was looking for a comprehensive perspective on the market, the value of the platform to customers, the competitive landscape, target’s operational performance, and future growth opportunities.
3HA Approach
The 3HA team leveraged secondary research scans, primary research including in-depth interviews with customers, channel partner and competitors, and econometric analysis to evaluate the attractiveness of the target’s market, assess its competitive position, and opportunities for growth. The effort was complicated by multiple factors:
- Over an 18-month period prior to this transaction, the target had broadened its product portfolio and expanded the addressable market opportunity via six different acquisitions
- Migration of the 1st phase of customers to a new platform was underway
- Furthermore, the target was in discussions to acquire a leading provider of a full-featured accounting system
The niche areas within the market and the addressable market addressed by the prior acquisitions, the market acceptance of the new platform, and assessment of the synergies with the potential add-on investment were all addressed as part of the engagement. The team accomplished these tasks under a very tight timeframe of 2 weeks.
Outcomes
Extensive industry research and in-depth expert interviews allowed for a coherent assessment of the target, the market opportunity, and future growth opportunities. While it supported the client’s decision to make a platform investment, the findings were also leveraged to source a convertible preferred equity solution, which alongside new term loan debt from an alternative private credit asset management firm financed the acquisition of the complementary SaaS business. The assessment of the operational performance offered an early identification of issues affecting the business case and helped identify opportunities for post transaction value creation.