Houlihan Lokey Advises Endicott Group

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Endicott Growth Equity Partners, L.P. (Endicott), a private equity fund focused on tech-enabled services, has acquired a majority stake in Information Clearinghouse Inc. and Market Service Inc. (collectively, the Company).

Home to the Creditntell, F&D Reports, and ARMS and AggData brands, Information Clearinghouse Inc. and Market Service Inc. are the leading providers of financial, credit, and geospatial intelligence to a diverse set of customer segments, including consumer product companies, retailers, retail real estate owners and investors, and lenders. The well-established financial intelligence products facilitate credit decisions across the retail ecosystem and deliver research, analytics, and insight on hundreds of public and private retailers, all generated by an experienced, sector-focused analyst team. The more recently launched geospatial intelligence products seamlessly combine millions of up-to-date retail locations, foot-traffic data, demographics, and proprietary algorithms to generate powerful analytics and insights at the shopping center and individual storefront level. Together, these services offer clients a 360-degree view of retailer and retail real estate performance and opportunity—essential given the rapidly changing and intertwined $4 trillion U.S. retail and $2.5 trillion retail real estate sectors.

Lawrence Sarf, Founder and CEO of the Company said, “We chose to partner with Endicott because of their deep data and analytics expertise, relevant operational experience, and partnership approach. Our team has built a strong, growing business over several decades, and we are now poised to scale up. Endicott understands our opportunities and challenges well, and our entire management team is excited to work with them to accelerate our growth plan and deliver exceptional value to our clients.”

Founded in 1996, Endicott Group is a New York–based investment firm with deep private equity experience. Through Endicott, the firm invests exclusively in technology-enabled, B2B companies providing critical data and analytics to a wide range of sectors and end markets. A value-added investor, Endicott brings considerable expertise to the information services sector and partners with management teams and other shareholders to build strong companies that realize their growth potential and maximize value.

Will Pappas, Endicott Partner, shared, “We congratulate Lawrence and the entire Information Clearinghouse and Market Service team. Through 50+ years of hard work and a commitment to clients, Lawrence has built a unique business grounded in retail sector expertise and product innovation. Within the retail real estate and consumer products industries, the Company is known as the “must have” resource for credit and real estate location decision-making. The retail sector is experiencing unprecedented change, and the Company is well-positioned to deliver powerful analytical solutions that enable clients to navigate the present and future. We are thrilled to partner with the team on the next phase of their growth journey.”

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Endicott. This deal highlights Houlihan Lokey’s long-standing reputation as a leading advisor to data and analytics providers within the retail and commercial real estate sectors.