January 23rd, 2012
Datatel and SunGard Higher Education Close Transactions to Combine their Businesses
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., FAIRFAX, Va., and WAYNE, Pa.
New Company to Help Institutions Succeed in Changing Education Environment
Hellman & Friedman, Datatel+SGHE, and SunGard Data Systems today announced that the transactions to combine the businesses of Datatel and SunGard Higher Education have closed. As a result, more than 3,000 employees will be dedicated exclusively to delivering solutions to education institutions in 40 countries.
The newly formed company will have a new name, which will be launched in the first half of 2012. Until that time, it will be referred to as Datatel+SGHE.
“Education is entering a new digital era that presents both challenges and opportunity to educational institutions around the world,” said John Speer, president and chief executive officer, Datatel+SGHE. “Our clients rely on us to help them navigate in this shifting environment, and their success remains our priority. The combined company will continue our histories of providing reliable software and services to our clients as we make available new options to help them shape the future of education.”
Many factors are forcing significant change in education. Datatel+SGHE will help institutions succeed through:
- Continued investments in current solutions: The combined companies plan to support the software solutions of both companies, including Advance, Banner, Colleague, and PowerCAMPUS administrative systems.
- A broader portfolio of solutions: The combined portfolio of products and services will open new choices and capabilities for clients.
- Accelerated innovation: An expanded pool of resources and talent will accelerate research and development with targeted investments focused on major challenges in the education community.
- An expanded knowledge-sharing community: Collaboration, creativity and knowledge-sharing will grow across the expanded global client community of 2,300 colleges, universities, foundations and state systems.
“As a customer who has worked with both Datatel and SunGard Higher Education as independent companies, I see great opportunity for synergy in the combined business to deliver even more value and consistency,” said Dr. Debra Derr, president, North Iowa Area Community College. “They understand education and can provide the functional, technical and strategic expertise institutions need to thrive in today’s changing education environment.”
As previously announced, John Speer, former president and chief executive officer of Datatel, will serve as the new company’s president and chief executive officer. Ron Lang, former chief executive officer of SunGard Higher Education, will serve as vice chairman of the board of directors. Drawing talent from both companies, a management team with decades of higher education experience will lead the company.
As described in the initial announcement of the proposed combination, affiliates of private equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC have acquired the SunGard Higher Education businesses from SunGard Data Systems Inc. and are combining the acquired businesses with Datatel, an existing Hellman & Friedman portfolio company, under a new holding company.
“The combined company has the vision and resources to lead the way through the issues facing higher education around the world,” said Anupam Mishra, managing director at Hellman & Friedman. “We believe in the power and possibilities of education and are honored to be supporting the company in this mission.”
About Datatel+SGHE
Datatel+SGHE is a global leader in services, technologies and expertise to help educational organizations succeed in a dynamic environment. Client collaboration and community-driven innovation help shape the company’s broad portfolio. Around the world 2,300 colleges, universities and foundations in 40 countries use Datatel+SGHE solutions to strengthen the education experience for new generations of learners, improve efficiency and accountability, and forge lifelong relationships with the people and communities they serve. To learn more, please visit www.datatel.com or www.sungardhe.com.
About Hellman & Friedman LLC
Hellman & Friedman LLC is a leading private equity investment firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and London. Since its founding in 1984, Hellman & Friedman has raised and, through its affiliated funds, managed over $25 billion of committed capital. The Firm focuses on investing in superior business franchises and serving as a value-added partner to management in select industries including internet & digital media, software, business & marketing services, financial services, insurance, media, healthcare and energy & industrials. Representative prior investments in the software sector include Activant Solutions, Inc., Datatel Inc., Intergraph Corporation, Iris Software Group Limited, Kronos Incorporated, OpenLink Financial LLC, SSP Holdings plc and Vertafore Corporation. For more information on Hellman & Friedman, visit www.hf.com.
About SunGard
SunGard is one of the world’s leading software and technology services companies. SunGard has more than 17,000 employees and serves approximately 25,000 customers in more than 70 countries. SunGard provides software and processing solutions for financial services, education and the public sector. SunGard also provides disaster recovery services, managed IT services, information availability consulting services and business continuity management software. With annual revenue of about $4.5 billion, SunGard is the largest privately held software and services company and was ranked 434 on the Fortune 500 in 2011. Look for us wherever the mission is critical. For more information, please visit www.sungard.com.
Trademark information: SunGard, and the SunGard logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of SunGard Data Systems Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. Datatel and the Datatel logo, Advance, Banner, Colleague and PowerCAMPUS are registered trademarks of Datatel, Inc., SunGard Higher Education Inc. or their affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other trade names and trademarks used herein are owned by their respective holders.
For more information contact:
Datatel+SGHE
Media Contact – Laura Kvinge
Tel: 801-257-4158
e-mail: laura.kvinge@sungardhe.com
Hellman & Friedman
Media Contacts – Mary Beth Grover/Kelly Smith
Abernathy MacGregor Group
Tel: 212-371-5999
e-mail: mbg@abmac.com; kas@abmac.com
SunGard Data Systems
Financial Contact – Henry Miller
Tel: 484-582-5445
e-mail: henry.miller@sungard.com
SunGard Data Systems
Media Contact – George Thomas
Tel: 484-582-5635
e-mail: george.thomas@sungard.com