Clearlake Capital to acquire big data software provider Syncsort

Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (“Clearlake”) today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Syncsort Incorporated (the “Company”), a global Big Data enterprise software provider. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Headquartered in Woodcliff Lake, NJ, Syncsort provides powerful, secure, enterprise-grade software that spans “Big Iron to Big Data,” including fast-growing analytical platforms such as Apache Hadoop, Splunk, Apache Spark, and the cloud, as well as more mature platforms such as the IBM z Systems mainframe. Syncsort continues to build upon an over 40 year track record of delivering innovation for the most important industrial-scale data platforms in the world, allowing organizations to collect, integrate, sort and distribute more data in less time with fewer resources and lower costs. The Company has recently forged several important technology alliances with industry leaders such as Splunk, Amazon Web Services, Cloudera, Hortonworks, MapR, Dell, Fujitsu and Tableau. “We are excited to partner with Syncsort’s talented management team as we make a significant investment in the Company,” said Behdad Eghbali, Managing Partner of Clearlake. “The Company’s leadership position in both the mainframe and Big Data software segments makes it an excellent buy and build platform to lead consolidation in the industry, which is central to Clearlake’s investment strategy in the software sector.” “We are really looking forward to partnering with Clearlake to continue to grow the Company, both organically and through acquisition,” said Lonne Jaffe, CEO of Syncsort. “Clearlake’s proven track record in software investing and substantial resources will be instrumental in our continuing to deliver best-in-class software to our customers and partners and to create lasting value for our business. It is very exciting for us that Clearlake shares our vision for accelerating growth and is investing in our successful technical strategy.” “Syncsort has long been recognized by its customers and partners for high performance data integration and transformation software, and we are excited to partner with Lonne and the management team to accelerate growth. As large enterprises grapple with the demands of growing data volumes, they need a proven independent framework for data integration and transformation, including enterprise software that is differentiated across speed and cost, and that protects against the security risks inherent in data analysis. We believe Syncsort’s software offerings are well-positioned to address these significant market trends around Big Data,” added Prashant Mehrotra of Clearlake. Evercore served as financial advisor to Clearlake. BofA, Merrill Lynch and Pillar Capital Advisors acted as financial advisors to Syncsort, and the Company’s existing investors include Insight Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Georgian Partners, and other shareholders. Golub Capital is providing a fully underwritten GOLD facility to help finance the transaction, and will be acting as administrative agent and sole bookrunner. Clearlake professionals including Behdad Eghbali, Prashant Mehrotra, and Paul Huber will join the Board of Directors.