Significant investment will enable Davison to enhance industry‐leading technology platform that serves the professional employer and HRO markets
PLYMOUTH, MA, September 24, 2014 – F.W. Davison & Company (“Davison”), the leading provider of high‐performance software solutions for the Professional Employer Organization (“PEO”) and Administrative Service Organization (“ASO”) industries, today announced that it has received a minority growth equity investment from Accel‐KKR, a technology‐focused private equity investment firm. The investment will be used by Davison to broaden its industry‐leading cloud‐based technology platform, HRPyramid, and expand its customer support and service operations.
“Over the last 18 years, we have built Davison into a leading player in the PEO industry by delivering a functionally rich and technologically robust product in HRPyramid,” said Frederick Davison, Davison’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “Our team is excited to begin this partnership with Accel‐KKR, a firm with a long track record of helping great businesses accelerate their growth. This partnership enhances our commitment to the industry by helping us invest further in our platform capabilities and services to our clients.”
Davison plans to enhance product features, technology capabilities and the robustness of HRPyramid and particularly its next‐generation SaaS version, which was released in beta earlier this month. With this version, Davison will provide an enterprise class offering with an intuitive browser‐based user interface and strong capabilities delivered across devices and channels to its clients. This release will help its clients improve efficiency, and enhance the client user experience, even as it drives down investment in technological infrastructure for its clients.
In conjunction with the investment, Greg Williams, Managing Director at Accel‐KKR, and David Cusimano, Vice President at Accel‐KKR, will join the Board of Directors.
“We are excited to partner with the team at Davison to help accelerate their strategic plan and continue the company’s tradition of innovation and market leadership. We believe the launch of Davison’s new SaaS product will mark a new and exciting phase for both the company and its customers,” said Greg Williams.
“With Accel‐KKR’s investment, Davison plans to expand operations and create a more efficient, dynamic and customer‐focused organization that clients can rely on for running their businesses,” said Gary Noke, President of Davison. “Ultimately, Davison succeeds when its clients succeed, and that fuels Davison’s mission to not only provide rich functionality and a good customer experience, but to solve the client challenges it is uniquely positioned to do as a leading software provider to the industry. This investment helps Davison take another step in that direction.”
KeyBanc Capital Markets, Inc. served as the exclusive financial advisor to Davison on this transaction.
About F.W. Davison & Company
F.W. Davison & Company (“Davison”) creates enterprise software solutions that help the Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO) industry, including Professional Employer Organizations (PEO) and Administrative Service Organizations (ASO), service worksite clients and employees. The HRPyramid service delivery platform leverages best‐of‐breed partner solutions and complex core functionality that facilitates payroll processing, benefits and human resources administration, billing, account management, new hire onboarding and online benefits enrollment. Founded in 1985, Davison is privately held with offices in Framingham and Plymouth, Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.fwdco.com.
About Accel‐KKR
Accel‐KKR is a technology‐focused private equity firm with over $2.5 billion in assets under management. The firm invests primarily in software and IT‐enabled businesses well positioned for top‐line and bottom‐line growth. At the core of Accel‐KKR’s investment strategy is a commitment to developing strong partnerships with the management teams of its portfolio companies and a focus on building value through significant resources available through the Accel‐KKR network. Accel‐KKR focuses on middle market companies and provides a broad range of capital solutions from minority growth investments to buyouts, recapitalizations, divisional carveouts and going‐private transactions. The firm has offices in Menlo Park, Atlanta and London.
