Mr.Bada Posted March 31, 2022 Posted March 31, 2022 Link : https://www.afr.com/street-talk/riverside-pe-swoops-on-software-biz-eventsair-20220330-p5a9gu Global PE firm The Riverside Co has secured another Australian software investment via its busy buyout team in Melbourne. Street Talk can reveal Riverside’s local team has pounced on software business EventsAIR, which leads the Australian market in events management software and is trying to make it big in Europe and the United States.Riverside’s expected to take a controlling stake and has recruited a new US-based CEO, Matthew Donegan-Ryan, to run the business. Riverside will invest from its Australian fund alongside EventsAIR founder Trevor Gardiner, Donegan-Ryan and other management team members. The new ownership group is expected to work on EventsAIR’s international expansion. The group has a footprint in North America and Europe, targeting professional conference organisers, industry associations and educational institutions, but wants to increase market share. Riverside’s local team is expected to tap their offshore colleagues for help. The deal marks a big moment for EventsAIR, which started life 30-years ago helping event organisers move paper-based registrations online. Now its platform handles virtual, hybrid and in-person events, and has been used at more than 350,000 events.It also comes amid great change in the events sector. EventsAIR told potential suitors it had thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the lack of face-to-face events. It switched quickly to selling virtual capabilities, and expects virtual and hybrid events to remain a big part of its offering. Riverside’s local managing partners Simon Feiglin and Nick Speer headed the transaction. It looks to Street Talk like a similar investment to Riverside’s stake in simulation software business Energy Exemplar, which has grown from its Australian roots to a big player in its market globally. The deal comes two months after Street Talk flagged that EventsAIR had called in London-based boutique Arma Partners to test interest in the business. The transaction size is not known, however Riverside typically invests in middle-market businesses worth up to a few hundred million dollars.Anthony Macdonald co-edits Street Talk, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets. He has 10 years' experience as a business journalist and worked at PwC, auditing and advising financial services companies. Connect with Anthony on Twitter. Email Anthony at a.macdonald@afr.com Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones. Email Sarah at sarah.thompson@afr.com Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column. Email Kanika at kanika.sood@afr.com.au
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