Accel-KKR acquires Sageworks – 1040 Tax Plus Services

By Admin

May 20, 2018

The private equity firm Accel-KKR has acquired Sageworks, a provider of financial software and information on private companies that caters to accounting firms, banks and credit unions.

Sageworks was founded in 1998 and its financial analysis systems are used by thousands of accounting professionals in the U.S. and abroad. The Raleigh, N.C.-based company will become part of the portfolio of companies owned by Accel-KKR, a private equity firm based in Menlo Park, California. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sageworks introduced its flagship product, ProfitCents, in 1998. The software uses artificial intelligence to convert financial numbers into plain language to help business owners understand financial statements. Sageworks later targeted the accounting profession, offering ProfitCents as a way to analyze a business client’s financial data to identify how to improve the business’s performance, and the banking industry with a series of lending, credit risk and portfolio risk software products for financial institutions. Its technologies are used by more than 1,200 U.S. banks and credit unions. It also offers the Sageworks Valuation Solution for business valuation professionals, along with CashSage for accountants to help their small business clients generate more cash.

“We are pleased with the purchase by Accel-KKR, a leading firm that has vast experience in our specific industry,” said Sageworks co-founder and chairman Brian Hamilton in a statement. “The purchase will allow Sageworks to have an even bigger footprint in the financial industry and to help more people, which is what we are all about.”

Hamilton reportedly plans to focus on a North Carolina nonprofit he founded, Inmates to Entrepreneurs, which helps former prison inmates start their own businesses, according to local station WRAL. He and Sageworks co-founder Sarah Tourville started their company while they were both teaching at Duke.

Accel-KKR owns a number of other financial technology companies, including Banker’s Toolbox, Paymentus and TrueCommerce.

“Companies like Sageworks are essential partners to financial services institutions that are both under pressure to grow but also comply with a constantly changing regulatory environment,” stated Accel-KKR managing director Park Durrett. “We are excited about the opportunity to work with the Sageworks team to continue to innovate and deliver increasing value to its customer base.”