Accel-KKR Announces Strategic Minority Investment by Goldman Sachs Asset Management's Petershill Program

MENLO PARK, Calif., May 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Accel-KKR, a leading technology-focused private equity firm, today announced that the Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) Petershill program has made a minority equity investment in the firm to help support Accel-KKR's continued success.  The investment by the Petershill program is a passive, non-voting stake in Accel-KKR that represents less than 10% of the economic interests of the firm.

Tom Barnds and Rob Palumbo, Managing Directors of Accel-KKR, said, "This investment follows a 15-year relationship between Accel-KKR and Goldman Sachs Asset Management under which Goldman Sachs Asset Management funds have invested across all three of Accel-KKR's strategies – buyouts, growth capital and credit."

Proceeds from the Petershill investment will be primarily used to increase Accel-KKR's capital commitments to current strategies and to support potential new initiatives in the future.  None of the capital is being distributed to the principals of Accel-KKR as part of the transaction. 

"The principals of Accel-KKR are the largest investors across our capital base today," Barnds and Palumbo said.  "This investment will help us expand and grow our future capital commitments to our strategies, and to remain the largest investor going forward." 

Mike Brandmeyer, co-CIO of the Alternative Investments and Manager Selection Group, said, "We are excited to support AKKR's future initiatives through our Petershill platform and we are looking forward to expanding our relationship through this partnership. This investment is another example of Petershill's strategy to partner with leading private equity firms to provide strategic capital and support."

Specific terms of the transaction are not being disclosed. Barclays provided financial advice and Kirkland & Ellis provided legal advice to Accel-KKR in connection with the transaction.

About Accel-KKR 
Accel-KKR is a technology-focused investment firm with over $4.3 billion in capital commitments. The firm focuses on software and IT-enabled businesses well-positioned for topline and bottom-line growth. At the core of Accel-KKR's investment strategy is a commitment to developing strong partnerships with the management teams of its portfolio companies and a focus on building value through significant resources available through the Accel-KKR network. Accel-KKR focuses on middle-market companies and provides a broad range of capital solutions including buyout capital, minority-growth investments, and credit alternatives. Accel-KKR also invests across a wide range of transaction types including private company recapitalizations, divisional carve-outs and going-private transactions. Accel-KKR is headquartered in Menlo Park with additional offices in Atlanta and London. For more information, please visit: www.accel-kkr.com.

About Goldman Sachs Asset Management's Petershill Program  
The Petershill program launched nearly a decade ago to partner with leading alternative asset managers and help to accelerate their strategic development. Petershill's minority investments seek to support the creation of long-term value by providing strategic capital and support to alternative asset managers, while preserving the autonomy and entrepreneurial spirit of these organizations. Petershill is part of Goldman Sachs Asset Management's Alternative Investments & Manager Selection Group (AIMS), which manages over $150 billion in assets across leading hedge-fund, private-equity, real-estate, and traditional long-only managers through new fund commitments, secondary investments, fund-of-fund investments, co-investments and seed capital investments.

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SOURCE Accel-KKR