Hg announces an investment in Benevity

RNS Number : 4146H

HgCapital Trust PLC

03 December 2020

 

Hg, the Manager of HgCapital Trust plc ("HGT"), today announces an investment in Benevity, Inc. ("Benevity"), a global leader in global corporate purpose cloud software.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed and closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals which are expected in January 2021.

HgCapital Trust plc will invest approximately £27.3 million in Benevity, with other institutional clients of Hg investing alongside HGT through the Hg Saturn 2 Fund.

HGT, whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange, gives private and institutional investors the opportunity to participate in all Hg's investments.

Note that these figures only relate to HGTs share of Hg's overall investment in Benevity.

HGT's liquid resources available for future deployment (including all announced transactions and the interim dividend paid in October 2020) are estimated to be £166 million (13% of the 30 September 2020 pro-forma NAV of £1.25 billion, including the increase in equity via tap equity issues over the fourth quarter of 2020). In addition, HGT has access to a £200 million standby facility, which is currently undrawn.

The investment will reduce HGT's outstanding commitments to invest in Hg transactions to approximately £606 million (49% of the 30 September 2020 pro-forma NAV).

Benevity announces investment from Hg
to continue to strengthen corporate purpose globally

CALGARY, AB, Canada and London, UK: 3 December 2020 - Benevity, Inc. ("Benevity"), a global leader in corporate purpose cloud software, today announces that it has secured an investment from Hg, a leading global software investor. Hg's investment is expected to further accelerate and scale Benevity's pioneering leadership in this category. 

Hg will lead the investment, which will be made from the Hg Saturn 2 Fund, in partnership with Benevity's current investors, General Atlantic and JMI Equity, who will remain significant investors in the business, alongside the Benevity management team.

This investment comes at a time when ESG (Environment, Social, Governance), corporate purpose and stakeholder capitalism are taking root in companies of all sizes across the globe and as employee, consumer and public expectations grow for business to help solve the complex issues facing society . Benevity's all-in-one, global platform enables purpose-driven brands to engage these stakeholders in supporting the causes and issues they care about through a database of nearly 2 million vetted nonprofit organizations worldwide.

The Benevity platform has driven more than 34 million hours in volunteer time and talent, 275,000 positive actions, over one million grants and more than $6 billion in donations to date. Benevity's 650 clients and their 19 million employees support issues ranging from food insecurity, human rights, diversity and inclusion, racial equity, mental health - and everything in between. Around half of the businesses named on the 2021 Forbes Just 100 Ranking - which recognizes "America's Most JUST Companies" - use Benevity to power their corporate purpose programs[1]. 

Benevity has helped transform the nonprofit sector from manual processing, technological lag and fragmentation to automation, aggregation and efficiency. With 90% of all donation funds being sent electronically to nonprofits, Benevity boasts the highest payment success rate in the industry, ensuring that more dollars reach those in need, more accurately and reliably than any other software provider.

"For the last decade, Benevity has been transforming the way businesses engage stakeholders in social impact initiatives, evolving them from passively transactional investments to empowered, personalized experiences," said Bryan de Lottinville, Benevity Founder and CEO. "By embracing a grassroots approach to goodness - that is supported by scalable software - companies create more meaningful purpose-driven cultures and consumer-facing brands, helping them truly do well by doing good. We are thrilled to have Hg on board, whose global profile and expertise in software and SaaS will enable us to scale our reach to even more companies across a spectrum of industries, sizes and geographies, helping more people create a sense of connection to purpose and impact than ever before."

Nic Humphries, Senior Partner and Head of the Hg Saturn team, said: "It is truly exciting to partner with an organization that enables such positive impact to society, and we passionately believe in what Bryan, Kelly and their team are creating. Benevity is already a robust, high-growth business with a trusted platform for some of the world's largest global brands looking to boost their purpose-driven activities. We look forward to working with the team to become even more pervasive and impactful."

The Saturn team's Justin Von Simson, Managing Partner, Thorsten Toepfer, Partner and Gero Wittemann, Partner and co-lead of Hg's New York team, added: "Benevity has created a system of giving, volunteering and mission engagement that is more impactful and efficient for the business world, driving up employee participation rates, increasing employee engagement and retention, and resulting in higher impact to those in society that need it most. It's great to be backing another business based in North America and we look forward to using our experience in scaling software champions, to reinforce their mission across the globe."

Alex Crisses, Managing Director at General Atlantic, added: "We are strong believers in Benevity's mission to empower enterprises and employees alike to support the causes they care about. Over the three years of our partnership with Benevity, the company has demonstrated the resonance of its platform as it has added premier clients - becoming the backbone for their corporate giving and employee engagement programs - and enabled giving on a global scale. We are proud to welcome a trusted partner in Hg in the company's next phase of growth."

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed and closing of the transaction is expected in January 2021.

For further details:

Hg

Laura Dixon                                                                                                                     [phone]

Brunswick

Samantha Chiene      [phone]

[e-mail]

About HgCapital Trust plc

HgCapital Trust plc, whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: HGT.L), gives investors exposure through a liquid vehicle to a portfolio of high-growth private companies in the software and services sector. The selection of new investments and creation of value in these businesses are managed by Hg, an experienced and well-resourced private equity firm with a long-term track record of delivering superior risk-adjusted returns for its investors. For further details, please see www.hgcapitaltrust.com .

The contents of the Hg, HgCapital Trust, GA, JMI and Benevity websites are not incorporated into, and do not form part of, this announcement.

 

---

[1] 47 Benevity Clients Make 2021 Forbes JUST 100 List of America's Most JUST Companies: https://www.benevity.com/media/press-releases/2021-JUST-100

 

END

 

 

MSCUPGQUPUPUUMW