Anaqua has been acquired by Insight Venture Partners, a leading global private equity firm. Beacon Equity Partners, LLP founded Anaqua, a leading provider of intellectual asset management (IAM) services and SaaS software, in 2005. As part of the transaction, Jeff Horing and Alex Crisses, Managing Directors at Insight, will join Anaqua’s Board of Directors. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
“This is a very exciting step for us” said Priya Iyer, Chairman and CEO of Anaqua. “Anaqua’s growth has brought us to the point where it is time for a new phase of strategic expansion requiring new resources for accelerated market development in all geographies, as well as continued investment in products and new IP services. We will continue to serve our clients with the same team and same product and service offerings but with expanded resources for future growth.”
“Eight years ago, we recognized what Anaqua could one day become. Today, thanks to the hard work and dedication of Anaqua’s leadership and employees, together with the resources and support provided by our firm, we are proud that potential has been realized,” said Ed Mullen, Chairman of Beacon Equity and former Chairman of Anaqua. “I’m sure Anaqua will enjoy continued success in the years ahead, boosted by the wealth of talent and ideas within the company.” Mullen continued, “Legal and compliance solutions continue to represent an attractive focus sector for us at Beacon and we remain committed to identifying additional investments in attractive software and technology-enabled solutions players in this space.”
Anaqua’s software helps leading global companies grow and protect their intellectual property, including inventions, patents, trade secrets, brands and trademarks, and helps law firms improve their IP practices. Anaqua’s SaaS-based platform enables companies to align their intellectual property with their business goals, prosecute and secure it; and create value through more efficient licensing. Companies are further able to pay IP maintenance in multiple global jurisdictions using Anaqua’s payment services platform (formerly known as SGA2 SAS, a Pau, France based company acquired by Beacon in 2010). More than 20,000 users in over 100 countries are using Anaqua to manage approximately $500 billion in intellectual assets; these include users from Microsoft, Ford, Kimberly-Clark, Eastman Chemical and The Coca-Cola Company.
“It is rare to find a company with Anaqua’s combination of people, technology, financial profile and market growth opportunity,” said Jeff Horing, Managing Director at Insight Venture Partners. “Our plan is to provide resources and expertise to help Anaqua achieve its full potential in the global Intellectual Property market.”
“Priya and the Anaqua team have done an outstanding job of building the company to its current level of success,” said Alex Crisses, also a Managing Director at Insight, which this year raised a $2.57 billion investment fund. “We look forward to working with them in the next phase of growth and opportunity.”
Marks Baughan & Co. served as exclusive financial advisor to Anaqua while GTC Law Group CA LLP & Affiliates served as legal advisor to Anaqua. Goodwin Proctor LLP and Deloitte Transactions Services provided services to Insight Venture Partners.
For more information on this transaction, please contact:
Nick Baughan
nbaughan@marbau.com
610.616.3294
Chris Skoff
cskoff@marbau.com
610.616.3297
Chris Rose
crose@marbau.com
610.616.3298
Bill Takeuchi
wtakeuchi@marbau.com
610.616.3296
About Anaqua
Anaqua provides intellectual asset management software and maintenance services to patent and trademark holders worldwide. Anaqua’s software helps leading companies grow and protect company value with an advanced, flexible IAM solution used by more than 20,000 users in over 100 countries to manage more than $500 billion in intellectual assets. The ANAQUA Enterprise IAM solution supports the full IA lifecycle from idea to monetization for all IA categories, including inventions, patents, trade secrets, brands and trademarks. Clients include Microsoft, Ford, Kimberly-Clark, Eastman Chemical and The Coca-Cola Company. ANAQUA Express provides IAM best practices configured for smaller IP teams. ANAQUA Element is a quick start, cloud-based solution for small IP portfolios. ANAQUA Essential provides IP Practice Management for law firms. Anaqua’s annuity and renewal services are provided under the ANAQUA Services brand. ANAQUA Services clients include STMicroelectronics, NXP Semiconductors, Peugeot, France Telecom, Samsung and Honeywell. Anaqua is headquartered in Boston, MA, and has major European offices in London, UK and Pau, France.
For additional information please visit http://www.anaqua.com .
About Insight Venture Partners
Insight Venture Partners is a leading global private equity and venture capital firm investing in software, eCommerce, Internet, and data-services companies. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $7.6 billion and made more than 190 investments worldwide. Insight’s mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives who are driving change in their industries. Insight provides them with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. For more information on Insight and all of its investments, visit www.insightpartners.com .
About Beacon Equity Partners
Beacon is a private equity firm investing in innovative software and services companies focused in the corporate legal and law firm markets. For over a decade it has invested in and assisted European and Asia-Pac companies expand to North America with a particular focus in Germany, Switzerland, France and the UK. Our portfolio companies benefit from our strategic advice and operational assistance. For more information on Beacon, visit www.beaconep.com .
About Marks Baughan & Co.
Marks Baughan & Co. provides investment banking services to growth companies in the Financial Technology and Information Management sectors. Our focus and deep expertise and relationships in these two verticals provide our clients with top-quality results driven by an efficient process. Marks Baughan clients range from public companies with multi-billion dollar market caps to private companies with $10 million in revenues. We deliver results for clients: advising on sales of entire companies and divisions, acquisitions, private placements of equity and debt securities, or strategic advisory services for CEOs and CFOs on public offerings, M&A plans, or investor positioning.
For more information on Marks Baughan & Co., visit www.marbau.com .