SAN FRANCISCO – Genstar Capital, a leading middle-market private equity firm focused on investments in targeted segments of the software, industrial technology, financial services and healthcare industries, today announced the acquisition of the Operational Excellence & Risk Management business (“OERM”) of business information provider IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS).
Genstar is partnering with Paul Marushka to lead the execution of the carve-out transaction. Previously, Mr. Marushka was the President of Marsh ClearSight, a business unit of Marsh, LLC, and the global leader in software, analytics and data service solutions across risk, safety, and claims management. Effective immediately, Mr. Marushka will serve as President and CEO of the independent company, which Genstar expects to rebrand by the end of 2016.
OERM, which will be headquartered in Chicago, provides a robust portfolio of software driven solutions that enable companies to manage and optimize their environmental, health, safety, and sustainability processes (“EHS&S”). The business serves over 2,500 customers and hundreds of thousands of individual users primarily in highly regulated industries such as oil & gas, chemicals, and manufacturing. OERM operates globally and has over 500 employees.
Geoff Miller, Principal of Genstar, remarked, “The business has built a strong reputation with global customers on the back of a powerful solution offering deep vertical expertise to a broad customer base. Customers are increasingly demanding that EHS&S solutions migrate towards enterprise-level operational excellence, and we believe this business is in the best position to deliver that vision through increased investment in product development, sales and marketing.”
Mr. Marushka stated, “I am thrilled to be partnering with Genstar on this transaction. With the support of Genstar’s financial and strategic resources, OERM is now very well positioned to pursue a reinvigorated growth strategy that will help our trusted clients drive operational excellence as they face growing and ever-challenging regulatory complexities in the U.S. and internationally. Our focus now will be on product innovation complemented with a number of core and adjacent M&A opportunities that will further build trusted customer partnerships with expanded products and services.”
Ryan Clark, President and Managing Director of Genstar, added “This represents a signature Genstar transaction. We backed a talented leader in Paul to bring differentiated insight to a non-core business unit within a large corporate parent. Building on our recent success in carve-outs such as Insurity and Genworth Wealth Management, we have developed a blueprint to create tremendous value and we are excited to begin the work of accelerating growth here.”
Genstar Capital is a leading private equity firm that has been actively investing in high quality companies for more than 20 years. Based in San Francisco, Genstar works in partnership with its management teams and its network of operating executives and strategic advisors to transform its portfolio companies into industry-leading businesses. Genstar manages funds with total capital commitments of over $5 billion and targets investments focused on selected sectors within the software, industrial technology, financial services, and healthcare industries.
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Chris Tofalli
Chris Tofalli Public Relations
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