September 12th, 2011
Hellman & Friedman Acquires OpenLink from The Carlyle Group
NEW YORK, N.Y.
Growth Driven by Geographic and End-Market Expansion
Open Link Financial, Inc (OpenLink) today announced that The Carlyle Group has agreed to sell OpenLink, a software provider for participants in the global commodity, energy, agribusiness, commercial/industrial and financial markets, to affiliates of Hellman & Friedman. The transaction is subject to traditional closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Kevin Hesselbirg, CEO of OpenLink, said, “Since partnering with Carlyle, OpenLink has significantly expanded our leading market presence through entering new geographies and end-markets, including two complementary acquisitions, increasing R&D and capital investments by over 20%, and adding more than 250 new employees. Partnering with Hellman & Friedman will enable us to further develop our product and service capabilities, reach new markets, and continue to pursue more acquisitions. Our partnership with Carlyle has been fruitful and we are grateful for their counsel and efforts.”
David Tunnell, a Managing Director at Hellman & Friedman, said, “OpenLink is the market leader in cross-asset trading and risk management with a proven track record of success, having driven average organic revenue growth in excess of 20% per year since 2006. We are excited to partner with Kevin and his excellent team, and look forward to working together to capitalize on significant future opportunities in the growing energy, commodities, agribusiness markets, and in the trading and risk management sector broadly.”
Cam Dyer, Principal on Carlyle’s U.S. Buyout technology sector team, said, “OpenLink has been a great growth story. Geographic expansion, complementary acquisitions, and increased internal investment have all led to significant revenue and EBITDA growth. CEO Kevin Hesselbirg and his team have delivered superior technology solutions and outstanding results for their clients and our investors. We believe OpenLink has a bright future and we wish it continued success under Hellman & Friedman’s ownership.”
Credit Suisse and Crescent Mezzanine have provided committed financing for the transaction. Alston & Bird served as legal counsel for OpenLink and The Carlyle Group. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett served as legal counsel for Hellman & Friedman. Credit Suisse acted as financial advisor to Hellman & Friedman.
Media Contacts
OpenLink, Judith Peterson, +1 (516) 394-1274/Cognito, Caitlin Mitchell, (646) 395-6316
Hellman & Friedman, Abernathy MacGregor Group/ Mary Beth Grover, Kelly Smith, +1 (212) 371-5999
The Carlyle Group, Chris Ullman, +1 (202) 729-5385
About OpenLink
Founded in 1992, OpenLink is a provider of cross-asset trading, risk management, related operations processing and portfolio management software solutions for the commodity, energy and financial services markets globally.
OpenLink’s client base of more than 460+ customers worldwide includes 12 of the top 25 largest commodity and energy companies by market capitalization, eight of the largest financial institutions and 11 of the largest central banks, as well as major hedge funds, commodities companies and public utilities.
Headquartered on Long Island, New York and with offices in New York City, Houston, London, Berlin, Vienna, São Paulo, Sydney, Singapore, Moscow and Toronto, OpenLink has more than 1,000 employees worldwide.
About Hellman & Friedman
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. The OpenLink investment will be made from Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners VII, L.P. a fund with $8.9 billion of committed capital. For more information on Hellman & Friedman, visit www.hf.com.
About The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is a global alternative asset manager with approximately $153 billion of assets under management across 86 funds and 49 fund of fund vehicles as of June 30, 2011*. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Market Strategies and Fund of Funds Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America focusing on aerospace, defense, & government services, consumer & retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,100 people in 34 offices across 6 continents. Web: www.carlyle.com; Case Studies: www.carlylegroupcreatesvalue.com; Video: www.youtube.com/OneCarlyle. (*Includes acquisitions of AlpInvest Partners B.V. and Emerging Sovereign Group LLC on July 1, 2011.)