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KANA Software, Inc. (“KANA”) engages in the development, marketing and support of customer communications software products. KANA was a business that Accel-KKR had tracked for a number of years and with whom we met periodically.
Through the combination of four transformative acquisitions and investment to drive strong organic growth in revenues and profitability, Accel-KKR and the KANA management team built a truly global organization focused on customer service experiences through every channel and across all verticals.
Through the combination of four transformative acquisitions and investment to drive strong organic growth in revenues and profitability, Accel-KKR and the KANA management team built a truly global organization focused on customer service experiences through every channel and across all verticals. Accel-KKR ultimately completed the sale of KANA to Verint Systems on February 3, 2014 for $514 million in cash.
“Accel‐KKR was an extraordinary partner to the KANA management team following the acquisition that brought the company private in December 2009,” said Mark Duffell, KANA’s CEO. “Accel‐KKR did what they said they were going to do including supporting our efforts through investments to grow the company both organically and through targeted strategic acquisitions. Through our partnership, we were able to create a market leader in the growing customer service software market.”
KANA’s solutions help companies communicate with their customers across every channel, including email, chat, call-centers and web self-service. KANA’s solutions have reduced handling time, increased resolution rates and improved net promoter scores (NPS) at more than 900 enterprises—including many of the Fortune 500 and more than 250 government agencies.
The company went public in 1999 and saw its value peak in January 2000, before experiencing a prolonged decline resulting from poor execution and the after-effects of two economic downturns. In 2009, as a result of its depressed stock price and activist investor effort, KANA decided to evaluate strategic alternatives.
Despite KANA’s continued contraction, the company’s strong product set and customer base of over 220 clients (including half of Fortune 50), along with the potential to augment the existing management team, made for a compelling investment opportunity. Accel-KKR took KANA private in December 2009.
Over the course of four years, Accel-KKR and KANA management team made significant investments in developing and rolling out a new product set as well as increasing sales and marketing efforts. This significantly broadened the company’s products and geographic reach. In addition, Accel-KKR assisted KANA in the completion four significant acquisitions:
The combination of both the organic and inorganic efforts led to meaningfully improved operating performance and the return of KANA to significant growth and profitability.
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