Epicor acquired by investment firm in huge US$4.7 billion transaction

A definitive agreement to acquire Epicor has been finalised, with the company's new parent company investment firm Clayton, Dubilier and Rice (CD-R) completing a transaction valued at an enormous US$4.7 billion.

Epicor, a global provider of enterprise software to industrial-focused sectors, delivers cloud-enabled services to more than 20,000 customers worldwide, with its products aimed at enhancing vertical-specific workflows and driving growth in the manufacturing and distribution sectors.

Owned by investment firm KKR for the last four years, Epicor has in that time driven growth through its own investments and strategic acquisitions. Driven by several new product releases, Epicor has also achieved 73% recurring revenue, which includes an industry-leading SaaS business growth rate of 60% year-to-date.

"This is an exciting day for the entire Epicor family—employees, customers, and partners alike – and validates the company's leadership position across markets we serve," says Epicor chief executive officer Steve Murphy.

"We welcome this new partnership with CD-R, which shares our vision for growing the company, and I thank KKR for a highly successful partnership these past few years.

"We are excited to work with CD-R to increase investment in our market-leading product portfolio and to enhance our ability to support an ever-increasing range of customer needs.

CD-R operating partner Jeff Hawn says Epicor's solid recent performance sets the scene for continued growth in the company's new phase.

"Epicor's reputation for quality and performance, and its impressive portfolio of next-generation cloud products, position the company well to accelerate growth in the coming years," says Hawn.

"We look forward to partnering with the Epicor management team to further expand Epicor's product portfolio as well as make strategic acquisitions to meet customers' evolving digital transformation needs.

Hawn will serve as chairman of the Epicor board upon close of the transaction, expected later this year.

Hawn has more than 20 years' experience across a range of senior executive roles in software and technology-related businesses, including serving as chairman and chief executive officer of Quest Software, Vertafore, and Attachmate.

CD-R co-president Rich Schnall says Epicor's experience in the industrial sector matches his company's own business practices.

"We are excited to partner with Epicor and its talented management team to drive the business into a new phase of growth and profitability," says Schnall.

"Our long-standing industrial end-market experience and growing enterprise software expertise aligns well with Epicor's value creation plan.

Epicor chairman of the board and KKR head of Americas technology private equity John Park says he is confident going into the company's new era.

"Four years ago, we embarked on an ambitious product modernisation journey together with Epicor and are incredibly proud of the successes that the company has achieved to date, particularly with its recent cloud releases," says Park.

"We are confident that CD-R will provide valuable support as the company continues these product-and-customer-centric investments to accelerate growth in the cloud.