Ridgecrest Advisors’ Client Edgewater Acquires Branchbird
St. Louis – August 18, 2015 – Ridgecrest Advisors announced today that its client, Edgewater Technology, Inc. (“Edgewater”)(NASDAQ: EDGW), a leading consulting firm that brings a blend of classic and product-based consulting services to its clients, has acquired Chicago-based Branchbird, LLC (“Branchbird”), an Oracle Gold Partner and Cloudera Partner specializing in Big Data and Data Discovery technologies and solutions.
Branchbird will join Edgewater Ranzal (“Ranzal”), a wholly‐owned subsidiary of Edgewater and a Platinum provider of Oracle Enterprise Performance Management (“EPM”) and Business Intelligence (“BI”) solutions and services.
Known as one of the first organizations to develop strong project credentials in the Oracle Big Data space, Branchbird is well positioned to expand Ranzal’s reach into this emerging area.
Branchbird’s deep experience in Oracle’s Big Data technologies has enabled them to provide complex Big Data solutions to numerous enterprise customers. Edgewater Ranzal’s full lifecycle services provide Branchbird with the infrastructure to rapidly expand their offerings.
“With the acquisition of Branchbird, Edgewater Ranzal will be a leader in Oracle Big Data, providing our customers with a full range of offerings across our EPM and BI platform. The intersection of EPM and BI is a cornerstone of our customers’ Business Analytics needs, and Edgewater Ranzal is positioned to be a leader in the space,” said Matt Renner, Senior Vice President – NA – Business Intelligence and Enterprise Performance Management, Oracle.
“Combining Branchbird with Edgewater Ranzal fits with Edgewater’s channel strategy to ‘complete the suite’ and helps build critical mass in the evolving Oracle EPM/BI solution provider channel. The explosion in the growth, variety and frequency of data has created a unique opportunity for organizations to gain unparalleled insight locked up in this data. Branchbird and Edgewater Ranzal are uniquely positioned to help customers define a vision and utilize this data for a competitive advantage,” said Edgewater Ranzal Executive Vice President Robin Ranzal.
Total consideration paid at closing was approximately $2.8 million, in cash. The purchase price is subject to a net working capital adjustment and additional earnings‐based contingent consideration of up to approximately $2.4 million, based on operating results over the two‐year period immediately following closing. Contingent consideration earned, if any, would be payable in cash.
Randy Grigg, managing partner of Ridgecrest Advisors, advised Edgewater on this transaction. “The addition of Branchbird to Edgewater Ranzal results in a business with a highly compelling blend of capabilities in Big Data, EPM and BI under the Oracle technology umbrella,” said Grigg.
About Edgewater
Edgewater Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: EDGW) is a strategic consulting firm delivering a blend of classic and product-based consulting services. Edgewater addresses the market both vertically by industry and horizontally by product and technology specialty, providing its client base with a wide range of business and technology solutions. As one of the largest IT consulting firms based in New England, the company works with clients to reduce costs, improve processes and increase revenue through the judicious use of technology. Edgewater’s brand names include Edgewater Technology, Edgewater Ranzal and Edgewater Fullscope. To learn more, please visit www.edgewater.com.
About Ridgecrest Advisors
Ridgecrest Advisors is an investment banking and business consulting firm dedicated to helping technology consulting firms dramatically increase enterprise value. Ridgecrest Advisors helps clients in four core areas:
- Buy-side M&A advisory: We help technology consulting clients increase enterprise value by successfully executing transactions which fortify, extend or transform their businesses. We have run three of the most active acquisition programs in the sector over the last 15 years and bring deep insight into full lifecycle M&A efforts.
- Sell-side M&A advisory: We help technology consulting clients achieve premium valuations with attractive deal structures through a process that emphasizes speed and risk mitigation. Our deep industry expertise, expansive relationships with the buyer community and unmatched understanding of the perspectives of acquiring firms provide a unique ability to execute optimal transactions.
- Business consulting: Our Enterprise Value Optimization program helps technology consulting clients improve relative performance visibility, increase profit margins and reduce business risk. With our extensive experience from evaluating hundreds of consultancies while running acquisition programs, we bring unique insight into key performance indicator benchmarks and best practices of highly profitable firms.
- Private placements: Our ability to successfully raise capital allows our technology consulting clients to build value through funded strategic investment and reduce personal financial risk by realizing partial liquidity on their ownership positions. We have extensive relationships with private equity and debt financing providers who have experience and/or interest in the technology consulting sector.
All services involving securities are offered through M&A Securities Group, Inc. (“MAS”), member FINRA/SiPC; 4151 North Mulberry Drive, Suite 252; Kansas City, MO 64116; 816.888.7920. MAS and Ridgecrest are not affiliated
