New Zealand's Seequent sold to US trade buyer for $1b

Accel-KKR, which focuses on middle-market software and IT businesses, acquired Seequent in 2018 for an undisclosed sum and had planned to take the company public this year.

The buyer, NASDAQ-listed industrial infrastructure software supplier Bentley Systems, has agreed to pay $900 million in cash and issue Accel-KKR about 3 million Class B shares. Bentley's stock last closed at $46.83, giving the company an enterprise valuation of about $12.8 billion. It generated revenue of $801.5 million in 2020.

Seequent was founded in 2003 as Aranz Geo to provide underground infrastructure project developers, especially mining companies, with 3D geological modelling tools. The product suite has gradually expanded to include a range of complementary data interpretation and visualization tools, including several branded products. Growth during the Accel-KKR hold includes the acquisition of Canadian software company GeoSoft.

Operations currently encompass 430 employees across 16 offices and a client base spanning more than 100 countries. This compares to 13 offices and around 90 countries at the time of the Accel-KKR acquisition.

Seequent is expected to expand its China exposure under Bentley, which has a significant civil engineering network in the country. The company will operate as a standalone subsidiary of its new owner. Incumbent COO Graham Grant will succeed retiring CEO Shaun Maloney.

"We expect Seequent to contribute in excess of $80 million to our ARR [annual recurring revenue] during this year," Bentley CFO David Hollister said in a statement. "Seequent impressively has a historical and current organic revenue growth rate which, coupled with an operating margin profile similar to ours, makes Seequent accretive to our financial model."

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Industrials
• Technology
• Trade sale
• New Zealand
• Accel Partners
• KKR
• enterprise software