SAN FRANCISCO – August 17, 2015 – H.I.G. Capital, LLC ("H.I.G."), a leading global private equity investment firm with $19 billion under management, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire HelpSystems (now Fortra), LLC (“HelpSystems”, or the “Company”). The completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory and anti-trust approval.
Headquartered in Eden Prairie, MN, HelpSystems is a leading provider of system & network management, business intelligence, and security & compliance solutions. With over 9,000 customers across a broad range of industries, HelpSystems is the market leader within system & network management for the IBM-i operating system and is rapidly expanding its presence on the Windows, Linux, and Unix platforms.
Fraser Preston, Managing Director at H.I.G., commented, “We are excited to partner with Chris Heim, Dan Mayleben, and the entire HelpSystems team to continue the Company’s strong growth.” Aaron Tolson, Principal at H.I.G. added, “We look forward to working together with the management team to expand HelpSystem’s suite of products and to continue to provide best-in-class service to HelpSystems customers.”
“We are thrilled to work with H.I.G.,” said Chris Heim, CEO, HelpSystems. "We share core philosophies of taking exceptional care of customers and employees, and together we’ll continue on the mission of delivering software that makes IT lives easier and solves real problems.”
Evercore is acting as lead financial advisor to H.I.G. Credit Suisse is also a financial advisor to H.I.G.
About Fortra
Fortra empowers people to excel in IT like never before. Every day more than 9,000 organizations across the globe rely on Fortra to automate and simplify server and network management, protect data, and give people simple access to information they need. Find out how Fortra makes IT lives easier and keeps businesses running smoothly at www.fortra.com.
About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with $19 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Rio de Janeiro, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused approach:
- H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.
- H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.
- Other H.I.G. funds invest in various real assets, including real estate and shipping.
Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 200 companies worldwide. The firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.
