Houlihan Lokey Advises ECI

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that ECI Partners LLP (ECI), a leading growth-focused middle-market private equity firm, has acquired Commify from Hg. The deal, valued at €300 million, provides a full realisation for Hg, a leading investor in European and transatlantic software and services businesses, that has backed Commify’s transformation since 2016. The transaction was completed on 22 November 2023. 

Commify is a UK-headquartered European leader in business messaging solutions for local enterprises. Commify’s integrated solutions enable more than 45,000 customers to communicate with their customers and staff, sending over 5 billion messages per year via a range of channels, including SMS, WhatsApp, RCS, email, and voice.

The business is a long-established leader in the European local enterprise segment, complemented by fast-growing operations in the US and Australia. It operates at a global scale, taken to market locally in each country via both its global solutions brand Esendex and local self-serve brands. Commify has completed 16 complementary acquisitions in the past decade and the investment from ECI will support further acquisitions across both existing and new countries, as well as accelerate future platform and product development.

Paul McCreadie, Partner at ECI, said: “Commify has built a differentiated position in an exciting global market, and with messaging becoming the number one customer engagement channel, there is a clear and compelling growth opportunity across Europe, the US, and Australia. We’re delighted to be partnering with Richard and the Commify team to support them on further organic and acquisitive growth for the next stage of their journey.”

Richard Hanscott, CEO of Commify, said: “With Hg’s backing in recent years, we have built a highly differentiated market-leading business, with material investment in both M&A and our business messaging platform. ECI’s ownership will allow us to accelerate our investment in new products and services, including our growing range of messaging channels, such as WhatsApp. Alongside this, we are excited to continue to drive expansion through further acquisitions in both existing and new countries. Commify is perfectly positioned to continue to deliver high-quality, sustainable growth. This is a very exciting time for Commify, our customers, and our employees as we look forward to further strong growth supported by ECI’s significant investment.”

Houlihan Lokey acted as exclusive buyside M&A and financing advisor to ECI, further exemplifying both the firm’s credentials in the communication services market and the success of the firm’s fully integrated Corporate Finance and Debt Capital Markets offering.