Warburg, management commit up to $1bn for new tech platform

Slaine, a co-founder and executive chairman of MLM II, said the platform will be a business-to-business focused information technology company. The management team will contribute $30m in capital toward the $1bn of equity.

The new platform could build up across multiple deals or with one large acquisition, Slaine said. It could also target technology companies in sectors such as finance, education, energy or science, in which the management team has experience. He also said the business will have the ability to handle “dicier situations where [companies] need better management to get to the next level.”

Warburg will finance the platform out of its Warburg Pincus Global Growth LP fund, a $14.8bn growth-focused fund that closed in late 2018, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The new platform reunites Warburg with Slaine, who has brought the firm success in the past. The firm previously joined with him to form MLM Information Services, another software platform that acquired tax compliance software businesses before being sold to Corporate Service Company in 2011.

Before connecting with Warburg, Slaine held chief executive positions with financial information services companies Information Holdings and Thompson Financial. Nadler previously served as chief executive of Clarivate Analytics and chief operating officer at Interactive Data Corp. Jaeger serves as chief financial officer of Artivest, a technology platform that provides financial advisers access to alternative investments.

Technology companies have been popular targets for private equity investors in good times and bad. So far this year more than 46% of the more than $100bn of financial sponsor deal volume has gone to technology deals, according to data provider Dealogic.

Warburg has a long history of investing in technology companies, including ones focusing on cybersecurity. This year Warburg has backed network and cybersecurity company Infoblox as well as BetterCloud, which manages and secures digital workplaces, and industrial Internet of Things business Samsara Networks, among others.

 Source: Wall Street Journal