Adelaide Software Company Energy Exemplar Signs $1.6 Billion Sale to Private Equity Heavyweights

Under-the-radar Adelaide software company Energy Exemplar is the M&A surprise of the year after signing a $US1 billion-plus sale to a pair of private equity heavyweights.

Drayton created Plexos, an energy system modelling software tool, which was picked up in Ireland and started gaining international attention. So Riverside, six years into its investment, Drayton and Co put the business up for sale. They had received inbound interest over the years, and told potential suitors there was a lot more to do in consolidating the industry, and growth left in the tank.

Energy Exemplar has gone one better than most of that list: it has also found an exit for its major backer.The deal is sweetly timed for Origin Energy, which is sitting on a 20 per cent stake in another energy software play, Kraken owner Octopus Energy.While Kraken and Plexos play in different parts of the sector – one is more customer billing and management, the other modelling and simulation – they are both about subscription revenue and the energy sector.

But back to Riverside: Feiglin called it a “textbook deal” for the mid-market buyout fund. Its local team targets under-the-radar Australian and New Zealand businesses that it thinks it can help grow, usually by helping take them offshore or via bolt-on M&A deals.

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Source: FinancialReview - 🏆 2. / 90 Read more »