BigHand, the award winning voice productivity software developer, has been acquired by Bridgepoint Development Capital (‘BDC’) together with management in a transaction totaling £49 million. BDC will acquire the company from Lloyds Development Capital who will roll-over a portion of their proceeds to take a minority stake in the business.
Founded in 1996, the company is the largest provider of voice productivity software to the legal, healthcare and professional services market in the UK and has a growing international client base. It currently supports over 150,000 professionals globally, across 1,450 organizations and has offices in London, Chicago, Sydney and Toronto.
BigHand’s voice productivity software is designed to help business professionals become more efficient. The Company’s software manage the efficient workflow of digital dictation in industries where the time of professionals (for example, lawyers, doctors, and other professionals) is both limited and expensive and needs to be focused on value adding activities.
BigHand provides the workflow software, including integrated speech recognition technology, that makes the creation, distribution and processing of voice files more efficient and secure. Its software allows a user to dictate from any device (including the latest smartphone devices) and route that voice file to the required recipient for transcription and formatting. The company is the branded market leader in the supply of voice productivity solutions to the UK legal market and is the No 1 supplier in the US, Dutch and Australian law firms market. In healthcare, it is the number one accredited supplier to the UK’s NHS.
BigHand CEO Jon Ardron stated: “Marks Baughan worked tirelessly to manage the deal process, and achieved a good result for all stakeholders. The attention to detail in both the initial marketing material and follow-up information helped us considerably in explaining the prospects of our niche business to potential investors. As CEO I was fully aware of the potential distraction of a sale – Marks Baughan were extremely helpful in supporting management through all the various stages of the process, particularly in due diligence.”
Graham Gilbert, who will continue as Non-executive Chairman added: “Marks Baughan managed a competitive process with multiple potential investors. The added complexities of managing a secondary process, particularly with a re-investment from the exiting PE house, were handled well and helped us achieve a good result for all parties.”
For more information on this transaction, please contact:
John W. Jacobs
Partner
+44 207.927.7464
jjacobs@marbau.com
William Takeuchi
Director
610.616.3296
wtakeuchi@marbau.com
About Bridgepoint Development Capital
Bridgepoint Development Capital (‘BDC’) provides funding to businesses headquartered in France, the Nordic region and the UK, typically buyouts valued up to €150 million. BDC has a team of 17 investment professionals wholly dedicated to its investment activity and operating from offices in London, Paris and Stockholm. Recent transactions include the buyout of aerospace component manufacturer Shimtech Industries involving the acquisition and merging of four businesses within Hampson Industries’ Aerospace Components & Structures division in a transaction totaling $84 million; and a growth capital investment in Evander Glazing & Locks, the nationwide 24/7 emergency response and repair provider of locks and glazing.
BDC is part of Bridgepoint, the international private equity group, which invests in businesses valued between €200 million and €1 billion across Europe, from a network of nine offices in Frankfurt, Helsinki, Istanbul, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Stockholm and Warsaw.
For additional information please visit www.bridgepoint.eu
About BigHand
The BigHand Group supports over 150,000 professionals globally, across 1,450 organizations, and is based out of London, Chicago, Sydney and Toronto. BigHand is a Microsoft Gold Partner and Elite BlackBerry ISV Partner, and was voted winner of the Australasian Legal Business Magazine’s Dictation & Transcription ‘Service Provider of the Year 2010’ and ‘Dictation System of the Year’ at the 7th Annual Law Technology News (LTN) Awards 2009.
For additional information please visit www.bighand.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.