LONDON, UK: Hg, the manager of HgCapital Trust plc (HGT), has agreed the sale of Commify, the UK-headquartered European leader in business messaging solutions to Local Enterprises, to ECI Partners.

The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed and completion is subject to closing conditions. HGT, whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange, gives private and institutional investors the opportunity to participate in all Hg’s investments.

This transaction values HGT’s investment in Commify at approximately £21.9 million. This would represent an uplift of £5.3 million (32% or 1.2 pence per share) over the carrying value of £16.6 million in the Net Asset Value (“NAV”) of HGT at 31 March 2023.

ECI Partners, the leading growth-focused mid-market private equity firm, today announces its investment in Commify, the UK-headquartered European leader in business messaging solutions to Local Enterprises.

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. 

Commify’s integrated solutions enable over 45,000 customers to communicate with their customers and staff, sending over 5 billion messages per year, covering a range of business critical use cases from appointment confirmations to emergency alerts, 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 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 last decade, and the investment from ECI will support further acquisitions across both existing and new countries, as well as to accelerate future platform and product development. 

Richard Hanscott, CEO, Commify: “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.”

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