SmartStream Technologies, the market leading provider of
Transaction Lifecycle Management (TLM(R)) solutions, today announced
that TA Associates has completed its buyout of the firm from
SmartStream's previous majority shareholder 3i. TA Associates is one
of the world's leading buyout and private equity firms.
SmartStream's fully integrated, multi-product solutions enable
enterprise-wide Transaction Lifecycle Management from trade inception
to settlement in a single scalable platform. The product portfolio
includes solutions for Reconciliations, Business Process Automation,
Corporate Actions, Enterprise Exception Management, Cash Management,
Financial Messaging, Trade Process Management and Compliance
Solutions. SmartStream has a 38% market share and over 1,000 clients
globally, including more than 70 of the world's top 100 banks. The
company is headquartered in the UK, with direct operations in London,
Bristol, Paris, Vienna, Zurich, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan,
New York, Singapore, Beijing, Sydney and Mumbai.
The transaction has been made following SmartStream's recent
record results. SmartStream's dramatic growth and expanding market
leadership has positioned the company to move to the next stage of its
corporate development with a new partner. TA Associates' investment
provides the support and market skills to ensure the success of this
strategic plan, including a potential floatation.
"We are delighted to be partnering with TA Associates. This is a
critical step in executing our growth acceleration strategy and moving
to the next stage of the firm's development," said Ron Mackintosh,
Chairman, SmartStream. "The record results for financial year ending
June 2006 are testament to SmartStream's success and continued ability
to out compete the market with our highly attractive suite of TLM
products and solutions. With TA Associates' substantial experience in
growth software companies, we are perfectly positioned to achieve our
strategic plan."
Commenting on the investment led from TA's London office, Ajit
Nedungadi, a Principal at TA Associates and Director of TA Associates
Ltd., said, "SmartStream is a highly successful, profitable and
growing business making it an ideal fit for TA's growth private equity
model. We believe this is a great opportunity to invest in a global
brand leader in a dynamic market with a talented group of employees to
secure the next stage of its development."
"We are confident that this partnership will prove very beneficial
to SmartStream's clients and employees; ensuring a successful,
innovative software company remains a self sufficient force in the
industry," said Jonathan Meeks, a Principal at TA Associates. "In an
environment facing increasing regulatory pressure and growing volumes
of electronic trading, SmartStream offers financial institutions
compelling solutions to control their risk, cost and compliance
issues."
Founded in 1968, TA Associates is one of the world's leading
private equity firms and has invested over $1 billion in financial
technology companies. Some of TA's prior investments in the financial
technology and financial services sectors include Affiliated Managers
Group, AIM Management Group (AMVESCAP), Datek Online Holdings
(Ameritrade Holding Corporation), eSecLending, GlobeOp Financial
Services, The IntercontinentalExchange, ION Trading Group, The Island
ECN (Instinet Group Incorporated), Lava Trading, Numeric Investors,
OpenLink Financial and Thomson Advisory Group (PIMCO).
With TA Associates' ownership, there will be a change in Board
members; TA Associates' Ajit Nedungadi and Jonathan Meeks will join
the Board and Lord Blackwell, Mark Austen and Martin Brown will be
stepping down. Martin Brown will be transitioning out of his current
role as CEO of SmartStream Technologies to pursue other business
interests. In the interim, he will remain as CEO with the full support
of the Board and assist in selecting a successor.
The Royal Bank of Scotland's Corporate & Structured Finance team
provided senior debt for the investment. Goodwin Procter LLP and
Travers Smith served as legal counsel for TA Associates. Macfarlanes
provided legal counsel to SmartStream Technologies and Deutsche Bank
acted as sole financial adviser to 3i in this transaction.
About SmartStream Technologies
SmartStream Technologies is the undisputed market leading provider
of Transaction Lifecycle Management solutions. The company has a 38%
market share and over 1,000 clients globally, including more than 70
of the world's top 100 banks.
By delivering state of the art software, implementation and global
24x7 support services, SmartStream is uniquely positioned to respond
to the demands of its clients for increased efficiency and reduced
operational risk.
SmartStream Technologies delivers integrated, multi-product
solutions that enable enterprise wide Transaction Lifecycle
Management, from trade inception to settlement in a single scalable
platform, all within the framework of its STP Control Architecture.
SmartStream's product portfolio includes solutions for:
-0-
*T
-- Reconciliations
-- Business Process Automation
-- BPM
-- BAM
-- Corporate Actions
-- Enterprise Exception Management
-- Cash Management
-- Financial Messaging
-- Trade Process Management
-- Compliance Solutions
*T
SmartStream's Reconciliations and Trade Finance solutions are
SWIFTReady Gold accredited and universally regarded as Best of Breed.
Their flexible design enables deployment across the full range of
financial institutions.
The company is headquartered in the UK with direct operations in
London, Bristol, Paris, Vienna, Zurich, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Madrid,
Milan, New York, Singapore, Beijing, Sydney and Mumbai.
About TA Associates
Founded in 1968, TA Associates is one of the largest and most
experienced private equity firms. With offices in Boston, Menlo Park
and London, the firm manages $10 billion in capital and has invested
in more than 360 companies. TA Associates provides growth equity
capital, leveraged recapitalization and management buyout financing
primarily for technology, financial services, business services,
consumer and healthcare businesses. More information about TA
Associates can be found at www.ta.com.
Safe harbor statement under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995: Statements made in connection with this release
which are not historical fact, such as forward-looking statements
concerning future financial performance and growth, involve risk and
uncertainties. Such statements are subject to various factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth
in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements
represent the best judgment of TA Associates as of the date of this
release. TA Associates disclaims any intent or obligation to update
any forward-looking statements. This document is approved for issue in
the UK by TA Associates Ltd., which is regulated by the FSA.
