Ridgecrest Advisors’ Client Perficient Acquires Exervio
~ Deal Expected To Be Immediately Accretive ~
St. Louis – April 1, 2011 –Ridgecrest Advisors announced today that its client, Perficient, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRFT), a leading information technology consulting firm serving Global 2000 and other large enterprise customers throughout North America, has acquired Exervio, Inc., a Charlotte-based business and management consulting firm focused on program and project management, process improvement and data/business analytics with approximately $13 million in annual revenues. The transaction is expected to increase Perficient’s current annualized revenues to more than $245 million – with nearly 1,450 consulting, technology, sales and support professionals. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to earnings per share immediately.
“Exervio’s high-value portfolio of management consulting skills significantly enhances our existing business consulting qualifications and offers strong pull-through potential for our custom and packaged application development, implementation and integration services,” said Jeffrey Davis, Perficient’s chief executive officer and president. “Exervio is a well-run business with a demonstrated record of growth and one that historically has coupled solid bill rates with strong utilization to deliver attractive gross margins.”
“We’re excited about Exervio’s meaningful presence in both the Charlotte and Atlanta markets,” said Kathy Henely, Perficient’s chief operating officer. “Additionally, establishing management consulting as a core offering in our consulting portfolio is a strategic development that broadens our relevance to potential enterprise clients and further positions Perficient as a valued partner to existing customers.”
The acquisition of Exervio also:
- Increases Perficient’s market presence in the southeastern United States, adding offices and local consulting resources in the Charlotte and Atlanta markets;
- Expands Perficient’s presence in the Dallas market;
- Adds nearly 100 consulting, technology, sales and support professionals; and
- Adds client relationships with enterprise customers including AT&T, Bank of America, Boy Scouts of America, Coca Cola, Duke Energy, Family Dollar, Lowe’s, Piedmont Natural Gas, Wells Fargo and many more.
“Joining Perficient presents tremendous opportunity for our company and our customers,” said Jon Nance, Exervio’s chief executive. “It will not only accelerate the success and momentum of our business but also provide our clients access to a much broader array of solutions and services.”
Exervio co-founders Jon Nance, Mark Heisig and Edward Pounds each will join Perficient in key leadership roles.
The consideration paid in the transaction is approximately $13.6 million and includes $7.6 million in cash and approximately $6.0 million worth of Perficient common stock (based on the average closing price of Perficient’s common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market for the thirty trading days immediately preceding the acquisition close per the terms of the acquisition agreement). $3.4 million of the total consideration is subject to earnout and working capital provisions.
Randy Grigg, Managing Partner of Ridgecrest Advisors, advised Perficient on the transaction in his capacity as a registered investment banking agent of Burch & Company, Inc. “The acquisition of Exervio greatly strengthens Perficient’s business consulting capabilities while providing outstanding cross-selling opportunities and a solid market presence in the very attractive Charlotte and Atlanta markets,” said Grigg.
About Perficient
Perficient is a leading information technology consulting firm serving Global 2000 and enterprise customers throughout North America. Perficient’s professionals serve clients from a network of offices in North America and three offshore locations, in Eastern Europe, India and China. Perficient helps clients use Internet-based technologies to improve productivity and competitiveness, strengthen relationships with customers, suppliers and partners and reduce information technology costs. Perficient, traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market(SM), is a member of the Russell 2000® index and the S&P SmallCap 600 index. Perficient is an award-winning “Premier Level” IBM business partner, a TeamTIBCO partner, a Microsoft National Systems Integrator and Gold Certified Partner, a Documentum Select Services Team Partner and an Oracle Certified Partner. For more information, please visit www.perficient.com.
About Exervio
Exervio Management Consulting provides process improvement, business and operations analysis and project delivery services. The company includes over 100 seasoned consulting professionals, with offices in Atlanta and Dallas and headquarters in Charlotte, NC. Exervio delivers value to local clients by deploying small teams to define business strategies, improve operational effectiveness and execute the projects required to achieve results. Additional information is available at www.exervio.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:
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 Burch & Company, Inc., member FINRA/SiPC; 4151 North Mulberry Drive, Suite 235; Kansas City, MO 64116; 816.842.4660. Burch and Ridgecrest are not affiliated entities.
