K1 to Exit Irwin: A Strategic Sale to FactSet
Monday, Oct 28, 2024 11:41 pm ET
1min read K1 Investment Management, LLC (K1), a prominent investor in small-cap enterprise software companies, has announced the strategic sale of its portfolio company Irwin, a leading provider of investor relations (IR) and capital markets software, to FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE: FDS). The acquisition, expected to close in the coming weeks, marks K1's seventh exit of 2024 and will contribute to over $2.9 billion in enterprise value realized year-to-date.
Since K1's initial investment in 2021, Irwin has experienced remarkable growth, expanding its revenue by four times. This growth was driven by the introduction of new products such as Irwin IQ, expansion into the European market, and the securing of key partnerships with groups like FactSet and the New York Stock Exchange. Irwin's position as a leader in the investor relations software market has been further solidified, becoming a trusted solution for companies and their advisors to streamline investor engagement and relationship management.
The acquisition of Irwin by FactSet will enable the integration of Irwin's investor relations platform with FactSet's data, analytics, and research workflows. This integration aims to offer corporate issuers and IR teams a unified, end-to-end solution to manage their investor relations and capital markets efforts. Irwin's solution, used by IR professionals for investor targeting, shareholder monitoring, relationship management, and engagement analytics, will be enhanced by FactSet's robust data and analytics capabilities.
K1's Principal, Tarun Jain, expressed pride in being the lead institutional shareholder for Irwin's co-founders, David Whyte and Mark Fasken, and praised the strength of the partnership that led to Irwin's transformation of the IR landscape. The sale of Irwin to FactSet is a testament to the co-founders, the platform they built, and the successful collaboration between K1 and Irwin.
The sale of Irwin is K1's third sale to a strategic buyer this year and contributes to the $2.9 billion in enterprise value realized year-to-date through notable exits, including GoCanvas (sold to Nemetschek Group, FRA: NEM) and Axcient (sold to ConnectWise, a Thoma Bravo portfolio company).
The strategic sale of Irwin to FactSet highlights K1's commitment to investing in small, innovative, and rapidly growing software businesses and helping them become category leaders that transform their industries.
Since K1's initial investment in 2021, Irwin has experienced remarkable growth, expanding its revenue by four times. This growth was driven by the introduction of new products such as Irwin IQ, expansion into the European market, and the securing of key partnerships with groups like FactSet and the New York Stock Exchange. Irwin's position as a leader in the investor relations software market has been further solidified, becoming a trusted solution for companies and their advisors to streamline investor engagement and relationship management.
The acquisition of Irwin by FactSet will enable the integration of Irwin's investor relations platform with FactSet's data, analytics, and research workflows. This integration aims to offer corporate issuers and IR teams a unified, end-to-end solution to manage their investor relations and capital markets efforts. Irwin's solution, used by IR professionals for investor targeting, shareholder monitoring, relationship management, and engagement analytics, will be enhanced by FactSet's robust data and analytics capabilities.
K1's Principal, Tarun Jain, expressed pride in being the lead institutional shareholder for Irwin's co-founders, David Whyte and Mark Fasken, and praised the strength of the partnership that led to Irwin's transformation of the IR landscape. The sale of Irwin to FactSet is a testament to the co-founders, the platform they built, and the successful collaboration between K1 and Irwin.
The sale of Irwin is K1's third sale to a strategic buyer this year and contributes to the $2.9 billion in enterprise value realized year-to-date through notable exits, including GoCanvas (sold to Nemetschek Group, FRA: NEM) and Axcient (sold to ConnectWise, a Thoma Bravo portfolio company).
The strategic sale of Irwin to FactSet highlights K1's commitment to investing in small, innovative, and rapidly growing software businesses and helping them become category leaders that transform their industries.
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