Maxwell: Silicon Valley tip spurred Shareholder InSite M&A deal

By Milt Capps Updated 4 Nov. 2014


Maxwell: Silicon Valley tip spurred Shareholder InSite M&A deal | Joe Maxwell, Punching Nun Group, ONefocus Marketing, CapControls, Shareholder InSite, Quist Valuation, software, SaaS, AnalytX, M&A, mergers and acquisitions, Brett Suchor, Qval

CEO Joe Maxwell

Updated: NYC-based Ipreo, backed by Blackstone and Goldman Sachs, announced today (Nov. 4) its acquisition of Shareholder Insite, on undisclosed terms.-Ed.

JOE MAXWELL-led CapControls has merged with Boulder-based Qval LLC and has rebranded as Shareholder InSite.

The transaction is a result of an introduction last summer by Silicon Valley private-equity executives who are now among the company's clients, chairman-CEO Joe Maxwell told VNC this morning.

"They said, 'You've got to meet these Qval guys," Maxwell recalled, adding that, in effect, "the merger was actually conceived in the eyes of a client." The combined Shareholder InSite site is here.

In less than four months after meeting with Qval, Maxwell estimated, the deal was done. The move comes four years after CapControls, initially known as Equity Service Solutions, was registered with the state. The combined company has 18 employees and projects profitability in 2012 with revenue of $2MM or more, according to Maxwell.

Brett Suchor
President

The merged company, headquartered on Nashville's 8th Avenue, provides tech solutions to enable portfolio and other companies, as well as private-equity and venture-capital fund managers to manage shareholder, financial and valuation data. The combined "single solution" is not currently matched by competitors, said Maxwell in a release today.

Maxwell is scouting further potential partners and office sites on the East Coast, he told VNC. The company will have sales presence in Boulder, Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area and is likely to plant its flag in New York City or elsewhere in the northeast in 1Q 2012.

CapControls had previously raised $3.8MM in outside capital, with investors including TNInvestco Council & Enhanced Ventures (an affiliate of Council Capital) and Bluff Point Associates (Westport, Conn.).

In an earlier report by VNC, Maxwell signalled the company has numerous opportunities for strategic alliances and inorganic growth, going forward. In today's release, Maxwell said he anticipates "expanding on the [Qval] merger and adding further services and relevant functionality to the platform."

Maxwell's previous venture, Investment Scorecard, sold in 2007 to Informa Investment Solutions for north of $50MM, most of it cash. That transaction occurred after Maxwell mandated advisor William Blair, according to earlier reports.

Qval founder Brett Suchor joins Maxwell as president and member of the board of directors, the company said in a release today. Suchor was founder and president of Qval, which was a spin-out from Quist Valuation, a well-established valuation consultancy that remains a Shareholder InSite strategic partner. Suchor was previously president of former parent Quist, as well.

Its competitors are currently limited to such firms as Two Step Software (Equity Focus), OptionEase and VC Experts, Maxwell believes.

Shareholder InSite's release today said, in part, that the company "will offer a suite of services and software-based tools that manage portfolio data for capital structure, develop financial measurements, address audit requirements andstreamline shareholder communications. Operating as Shareholder InSite, the Qval platform will integrate relevant CapControls functionality to deliver a comprehensive set of capital structure and financial data tools to the VC and PE communities."

Maxwell's advisors include attorneys with McKenzie Laird and Bass Berry & Sims; its commercial banking is with Capstar; and, it obtains some accounting services from Decosimo, said Maxwell.

Marketing and PR are with The Punching Nun Group in the Nashville region and with Bay Area-based FocusOne Marketing, he said. VNC