HGGC Leads Consortium With General Atlantic and Respida Capital to Create Global Retail Software Platform Through Merger of Mi9 Retail and MyWebGrocer

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- HGGC, a leading middle market private equity firm, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to lead the merger of Mi9 Retail ("Mi9"), a prominent provider of omni-channel retail solutions, and HGGC portfolio company MyWebGrocer ("MWG"), a top software and digital media company to the grocery and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industries. Mi9's current owners, General Atlantic and Respida Capital, are investing alongside HGGC. Terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.

The combination will grow Mi9 significantly and extend the breadth and depth of its software solutions, creating one of the largest and fastest growing independent retail software platforms. The combined company will power retail operations for more than 500 retailers and consumer brands around the world including Abercrombie & Fitch, BevMo!, Cole Haan, Giant Eagle, Levi's, Nike, Shopko, ShopRite and Tommy Bahama.

"Mi9 has a proven track record of successfully integrating best-of-breed retail technology companies, so adding MWG is a natural step for the company," said Rich Lawson, HGGC CEO and Co-Founder. "We look forward to partnering with the Mi9 Retail management team to help execute their vision for continuing to revolutionize the retail industry through the application of innovative technology."

The addition of MWG enhances the Mi9 software suite, giving the company an entrée into the grocery vertical and positioning Mi9 even more aggressively with general merchandise retailers who also sell grocery.  The MWG solution bolsters the existing Mi9 offering with new e-commerce, order management and click-and-collect functionality.  Additionally, MWG customers will benefit from the broader Mi9 suite of demand management, price and promotions management, and retail analytics solutions.

"With its recent acquisitions, Mi9 Retail has grown a very impressive portfolio of applications that scale effectively in several retail verticals," said Paula Rosenblum, co-founder and Managing Partner at RSR Research. "It's definitely a tech company to watch, and I look forward to seeing what they do with their suite of solutions in the coming year."

"Consumers expect all retailers to offer a unified experience across their online and in-store channels, and retailers need to invest in omni-channel technology to keep up," said Neil Moses, CEO of Mi9 Retail. "This investment from HGGC and the combination with MWG enables Mi9 to accelerate deployment of our technology to new markets in retail."

"We believe that Mi9 Retail is well positioned to capitalize on the growing technology needs of retailers," said Preston McKenzie of General Atlantic. "We are pleased to join HGGC and Respida in supporting that growth as the company adds new capabilities to address additional vertical markets."

Favorable Market Trends

The combined Mi9 and MWG business will be a leading software provider to retailers with $250 million to several billion in revenue, a market segment estimated at $1 billion that is growing more than 5 percent annually.

"Retailers are focused on investments that increase efficiency and effectiveness with e-commerce, point of sale, merchandising and planning among key focus areas," said John Block, HGGC Principal. "Many of these businesses are transitioning from first-generation, 'homegrown' solutions to more comprehensive, third-party software platforms. The combination with MWG perfectly positions Mi9 to capitalize on these trends with an even wider set of customers."

Evercore is acting as advisor to Mi9, Raymond James & Associates is advisor to HGGC and Jefferies LLC is advisor to MWG.

About HGGC

HGGC is a leading middle-market private equity firm with $4.3 billion in cumulative capital commitments. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., HGGC is distinguished by its "Advantaged Investing" approach that enables the firm to source and acquire scalable businesses at attractive multiples through partnerships with management teams, founders and sponsors who reinvest alongside HGGC, creating a strong alignment of interests. Over its history, HGGC has completed more than 100 platform investments, add-on acquisitions, recapitalizations and liquidity events with an aggregate transaction value of more than $17 billion. More information is available at www.hggc.com.

SOURCE HGGC