Member Article

Eque2 completes MBO of Sage Construction

Sage Construction will soon become Eque2 following a successful management buyout (MBO), which was announced on Wednesday.

Operating from its offices in Manchester, Farnham and Glasgow, Sage (UK) has been growing its construction and contracting software for the mid-market over the past five years after its acquisition of Tekton Group Ltd.

The buyer said Eque2 shares its values of “Innovation, Integrity, Simplicity, Trust and Agility”, and will help Sage Construction to support its existing customers.

Wes Simmons, general manager of Sage Construction, and now chief executive of Eque2, said: “As Sage Construction, we have been successfully trading even during these challenging economic times.

“However, while Sage has a generic focus across industries, Sage Construction specifically targeted the construction and contracting vertical.

“This MBO therefore represents a fantastic opportunity for us to offer even more focus to the industry, and we are delighted to have completed the transaction.

“We have secured both continuity of management and investment in product development, and I have great confidence in the business and its people.

“With the support of our investors along with the continued support of Sage and Microsoft as strategic partners, the MBO allows us to further invest in developing our portfolio of products and support services.”

Sage’s chief executive for UK and Ireland, Brendan Flattery, added: “We are committed to this move as a positive step forward for both Sage and Eque2.

“We are dedicated to the on-going development of Sage accounts products and will be providing Eque2 with research and development support.

“This means that the team at Eque2 can continue to provide existing and new customers with construction-specific accounting products and an extraordinary customer experience.

“The partnership is consistent with Sage’s focus on its core business of accounting, ERP, payroll and accountancy for entry through to mid-market businesses.”

The MBO was led by Manchester-based Clearwater Corporate Finance LLP with investment from ISIS Equity Partners.

Carl Houghton, head of the TMT sector team at Clearwater Corporate Finance, said: “Having worked on the original buy-and-build that created most of the assets that sit within Eque2, it was great to work with Sage, the ambitious management and new chairman Richard Beaton again.

“We are seeing a real return to form for good ERP businesses such as Eque2 and so it was no surprise to get the strong support of ISIS EquityPartners for this deal.”

Nick Holder, ISIS Equity Partners, commented: “We are very much looking forward to working with Wes and the team as they continue to focus on the needs of their clients and support them in taking the business to the next phase of its growth.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .