FRP Corporate Finance advises on ProspectSoft sale

FRP Corporate Finance has advised shareholders, including private equity investor Maven, on their exit from ProspectSoft, a customer relationship management (CRM) software provider, through its sale to The Access Group. ProspectSoft supports wholesale, distributor and manufacturing businesses in streamlining their business-to-business sales processes for stock and physical products. Its software-as-a-service (SaaS) product has reportedly delivered “impressive” growth in recent years and now integrates a number of stock management systems worldwide. Its sale has generated an initial 2.0x return for Maven Investor Partners which could increase to 2.9x dependent on certain conditions being met through an earnout agreement. According to FRP, the transaction represents a partial exit from the wider ProspectSoft group. However, the Zing division – a Twilio services specialist, does not form part of the exit, and Maven investors have retained their interests in Zing following a demerger of business. The Access Group is one of the leading providers of business management software to small and mid-sized organisations in the UK, Ireland, and Asia Pacific. Following the sale, ProspectSoft will join The Access Group’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) division, and strengthen the group’s offering to companies that sell, manufacture, and distribute products across the globe. The transaction was led by FRP Corporate Finance partner James Mines and manager Nick Wright, who negotiated the final deal and managed the sales process from the outset to completion. The team is said to have strong credentials in the SaaS sector, having previously advised the shareholders of TrailApp on the sale to The Access Group, and the shareholders of BGF backed Abacus on the sale to Naviga Inc, in the last 12 months. Tom Purkis, partner at Maven, said: “The support the FRP Corporate Finance team provided from day one and throughout the process was exceptional, and a testament to their knowledge of the SaaS sector. “The sale of ProspectSoft represents a good return for our investors. The business has performed well in recent years through continued investment in the product, optimising the strategy and the hard work and dedication of the management team. We wish the company well as it embarks on the next stage of its growth journey.” James Mines, partner at FRP Corporate Finance, added: “ProspectSoft is a great example of a specialist, high growth SaaS provider bringing significant additional capabilities to an established platform such as The Access Group. We have a strong understanding of the software landscape, so we knew The Access Group were the perfect partner to take ProspectSoft on the next stage of its growth journey and support its global expansion. “It’s a really interesting deal for the SaaS sector in the UK, and we’re proud to have supported the shareholders and team at Maven in realising their investment. We wish the team at ProspectSoft continued success in their new home.” Andy Ardron, founder and CEO of ProspectSoft, concluded: “James and Nick from FRP Corporate Finance were enormously helpful in securing the deal, keeping things on track and negotiating those inevitable last-minute hurdles during due diligence. The project would have been a lot more effort, for less value without their support.”