Potentia agrees $623m exit from Australia's Micromine
Australia’s Potentia Capital has agreed to exit its position in local mining software provider Micromine to UK-based industrial software player AspenTech in a deal worth AUD 900m (USD 623m).
The private equity firm acquired a significant stake for an undisclosed sum in late 2018 via its first fund, which closed on AUD 382m last year. AspenTech, which is taking a controlling interest in Micromine, confirmed in a statement that there were other sellers alongside Potentia.
Founded in 1986, Micromine is considered a leading player in its space with products used at more than 2,000 sites in over 90 countries. AspenTech estimates the company’s offering across data management, analytics, and related services covers USD 5.3bn worth of the global USD 11.5bn “smart mining” market.
Developments during the Potentia holding period include the acquisition of two local mining software players Spry and Alastri, several product rollouts and contracts with sizeable mining groups, as well as the establishment of a Mexico office. Micromine now has bases in 15 countries on five continents, including Australia.
Within a year of Potentia’s investment the company also appointed Andrew Birch, formerly COO of KKR-owned Australian software company MYOB, as its CEO. Andrew Gray, one of Potentia’s founders, invested MYOB in 2009 when he was at Archer Capital. Gray formed Potentia alongside ex-MYOB CEO Tim Reed in 2016.
Potentia positions itself as the only pure-play middle-market technology investor in Australian private equity. This is seen as an attractive market, where local competitors could outflank international investors but have to date failed to match them in terms of technology and cross-border scaling expertise.
The firm closed its second fund on AUD 635m last month, beating a target of AUD 500m and claiming assets under management of more than AUD 1bn. It identified growing opportunity in B2B software as an important contributor to investor demand.
Previous exits include the sale of payroll software specialist Ascender last year to US strategic Ceridian for a 16.4x rerturn. This followed the sale of compliance software-as-a-service provider CompliSpace to UK-based Ideagen for AUD 110m after a less-than-two-year hold, generating a 4.7x multiple.
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