Menlo Park, Calif., London, UK & Warsaw, Poland, June 29, 2023 – Symfonia, a leading provider of accounting, payroll and ERP software solutions, today announced the signing of a growth buyout investment from Accel-KKR, a leading global software-focused investment firm. Upon completion of the transaction, Accel-KKR will join current investor MidEuropa as backers of Symfonia. This investment will mark over 70 investments in Europe and 350+ across the globe for Accel-KKR. Financial terms of this transaction were not disclosed.
Symfonia is one of the leading providers of financial management, payroll and ERP software to accounting offices and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Poland. This investment will enable Symfonia to build on its existing leadership position and strong brand equity in Poland to become a Central and Eastern European (CEE) regional leader by accelerating organic growth plans and expanding upon a successful M&A strategy. Since its origin over 25 years ago as a business unit in and subsequent carveout from Sage Group plc in March 2021 led by MidEuropa, Symfonia has supported the digital transformation of thousands of Polish SMEs. Today, a loyal customer base of over 50,000 SMEs across Poland rely on Symfonia daily for mission-critical business software.
“I am incredibly proud of what our Symfonia team has accomplished with the support of MidEuropa in establishing our independence and cementing our market leadership. I believe the success that we achieved in just two years is a phenomenon in the Polish technology market,” said Piotr Ciski, CEO of Symfonia. “We’re just getting started: we have ambitious plans, and with the global experience, software domain expertise and M&A depth that Accel-KKR brings to the table, we believe we can expand our leadership in and beyond Poland even more quickly and effectively.”
“Symfonia has proven itself to be a dynamic force in the Polish technology market, thanks to a capable management team, and talented employee base,” said Maurice Hernandez, Managing Director of Accel-KKR. “We appreciate the trust and partnership that Symfonia and MidEuropa have placed in us as the incoming lead investor, and we look forward to bringing Accel-KKR’s deep software expertise and global growth experience to Symfonia’s next phase of growth.”
Adam Malinowski, Principal at Accel-KKR, added, “We see tremendous potential in Symfonia, and we look forward to bringing our resources to support Symfonia’s vision in becoming a business software champion for SMEs in the CEE region.”
Goodwin and Kirkland & Ellis are acting as legal advisors on the acquisition and the debt financing, respectively, to Accel-KKR while Vienna Capital Partners is acting as financial advisor to Accel-KKR.
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory and antitrust approvals.
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About Symfonia
Symfonia is a well-recognized brand and a leader in business ERP and payroll software solutions for SMEs in Poland. It offers business-critical FMS/ERP/Payroll/HCM software to a diversified and loyal customer base of over 50,000 SMEs. Symfonia has recently transitioned from a licensing model to subscription, and currently is at the forefront of the shift to the cloud. Since the completion of the carve-out from global ERP software provider Sage in March 2021, Symfonia together with MidEuropa embarked on the ambitious journey to consolidate the fragmented SME enterprise software market in CEE.
Our ambition is to become a leading CEE enterprise software provider, partially via M&A in the region. We continue to map the software space in CEE and have already identified a robust pipeline of actionable targets.
Since MidEuropa’s acquisiton, Symfonia has added to strong organic growth with three high quality acquisitions, namely:
- Reset2, one of the leading payroll software providers in Poland
- Cloud Planet, native cloud-based solution provider for micro & small customer segment in Poland
- HRTec, provider of cloud HR management software
About Accel-KKR
Accel-KKR is a technology-focused investment firm with $19 billion in cumulative capital commitments. The firm focuses on software and tech-enabled businesses, well-positioned for topline 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 alongside management by leveraging the significant resources available through the Accel-KKR network. Accel-KKR focuses on middle-market companies and provides a broad range of capital solutions, including buyout capital, minority-growth investments, and credit alternatives. Accel-KKR also invests across various transaction types, including private company recapitalizations, divisional carve-outs and going-private transactions. Accel-KKR’s headquarters is in Menlo Park, with offices in Atlanta and London. Visit accel-kkr.com to learn more.
