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Accel-KKR is an American technology-focused private equity firm with over $14 billion in total assets under management. The firm invests primarily in middle-market software and technology-enabled services businesses, providing capital for buyouts and growth investments across a range of opportunities including recapitalization, divisional carve-outs, and going-private transactions. The company has offices in Menlo Park, California, (headquarters), Atlanta, Georgia (opened in 2006), Mexico City (opened in 2018), and London (opened in 2013).

History

The firm was founded in February 2000 as a partnership between the venture capital firm Accel Partners and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, one of the oldest and largest leveraged buyout firms. Since the mid-2000s, the firm has operated independently of its original backers. Today the firm is run by co-managing partners Tom Barnds and Rob Palumbo with headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Accel-KKR’s second fund closed in 2006 with over $300 million in capital commitments and its third fund closed in 2008 with $600 million, a third over its $450 million target. In 2012, the firm closed its fourth fund with $750 million, exceeding its target of $700 million.

In 2015, Accel-KKR raised $1.3 billion for its fifth buyout fund, including $100 million from the firm’s general partners, making it the largest general partner commitment to date. The fund also drew a third of its capital from outside the US.Richard Waters
"Accel-KKR raises $1.3bn for new tech fund,"
''Financial Times'', September 27, 2015.

Since the firm’s inception through 2015, Accel-KKR had reported a 32% annualized return on investment.

In May 2017, Goldman Sachs Asset Management's Petershill unit took a minority stake of less than 10% in Accel-KKR.

In 2019 and 2020, '' Inc.'' named Accel-KKR one of the “50 Best Private Equity Firms for Entrepreneurs” while the American Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand recognized the firm as “Investor of the Year from the USA” in 2019 for its investment in Seequent Ltd. Accel-KKR was also named the "2019 GP-Led Deal of The Year in the Americas" by ''Private Equity International'' in recognition of Accel-KKR Capital Partners CV III fund, which closed in September 2019.

In January 2020, Accel-KKR closed on $276.7 million in commitments for Accel-KKR Credit Partners LP – Series 1, its private lending vehicle, which targets maturing software startups whose collateral may fall short of what bank lenders require for loans."Accel-KKR Pulls in $276.7 Million for Credit Fund,"
''The Wall Street Journal'', January 3, 2020. Also in 2020, the firm closed on its first fund intended specifically to invest in smaller companies. The $640 million Accel-KKR Emerging Buyout Partners LP fund is focused on software and technology companies with enterprise values of $70 million or less.

As of 2020, Accel-KKR has raised over $10 billion of investor commitments and invested in or acquired over 250 software and technology-enabled services companies, with the majority of such companies in the United States.
Of those, Accel-KKR has completed 79 international transactions, including 48 in Europe, 11 in Canada, 12 in Australia/NZ/Asia-Pacific, 6 in Latin America and 2 in South Africa.

Current Portfolio Companies

Accel-KKR’s current portfolio companies include:

*Abrigo
* Cendyn
*Cielo
*ClickDimensions
*Delta Data
*ESG
*ESO Solutions
*FastSpring
*FM Systems
*Forcura
*HumanForce
*IMED
*IntegriChain
*ITC
*Kerridge Commercial Systems
* Kimble Applications
* Lemontech
*Navtor
*OrthoFi
*Paymentus
*Partnerize
*Pegasus
*Peppermint Technology
*Reapit
*Recurly
*SafeGuard
*Salsa
*Sandata
*Seequent
*Siigo
*Smart Communications
*SugarCRM
*Surgical Information Systems
*Team Software
*TELCOR
*ToolsGroup
*TravelTripper
*TrueCommerce
*Vistex
*Vitu

Selected Previous Investments

Previous investments from which Accel-KKR has since exited include:
*Vyne sold to TJC
*Abila sold to Community Brands for over $280 MM in 2017
*Cielo sold to Permira in 2019
*One.com sold to Cinven in 2018
*RiseSmart sold to Randstad for $100 MM in 2015
*Zinc Ahead sold to Veeva Systems for $130 MM in 2015
*On Center Software sold to Roper Industries for $157 MM in 2015
*Accumatica sold to EQT Partners in 2019
*PrismHR sold to Summit Partners in 2017
*Clavis Insight sold to Ascential plc in 2017
*Applied Predictive Technologies sold to MasterCard for $600 MM in 2015
* iTradeNetwork sold to Roper Industries for $525 MM in 2010
*Endurance International Group sold to Electronic Data Systems for $463 MM in 2007
* IntrinsiQ sold to AmerisourceBergen for $35 MM in 2011
*CRS Retail Systems sold to Epicor for $121 MM in 2005
* Savista sold in two transactions to Torex and Accenture for $100 MM in 2006
* Systems & Software, Inc. sold to Constellation Software in 2007
*Alias Systems Corporation sold to Autodesk for $197 MM in 2006
* Kana Software sold to Verint Systems for $514 MM in 2014
*N-able sold to Solar Winds for $127 MM in 2013
*HighJump sold to Korber for $725 MM in 2017
*Jaggaer sold to Cinven for over $1.5 billion in 2019
*Episerver sold to Insight Venture Partners for $1.16 billion in 2018
*Model N, which went public on the NYSE under the ticker symbol MODN in 2013

References

{{reflist, 30em

Further reading

KKR and Accel Open Atlanta Office
New York Times, July 31, 2006

External links

Accel-KKR
(company website)

Private equity firms of the United States
Venture capital firms of the United States
Financial services companies established in 2000
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
Companies based in Menlo Park, California

fi:Accel Partners