Industry Related TransactionsGryphon Investors Acquires Highmetric
Buyside Advisor to Gryphon Investors
7 Mile Advisors Advises Gryphon Investors on Acquisitions To Build Largest ServiceNow Partner
Gryphon acquires Highmetric and names first two add-ons, Iceberg Networks and Fishbone Analytics
CHARLOTTE, NC — Gryphon Investors (“Gryphon”), a leading middle-market private equity firm, has acquired the ServiceNow division of Highmetric, a global digital IT services provider, from The Acacia Group (“Acacia”), which has retained a minority investment in the company. The standalone ServiceNow business will continue to be known as Highmetric, while the non-ServiceNow divisions have been rebranded as MajorKey Technologies and will continue to be backed by The Acacia Group.
Gryphon has also announced its first two additions to the Highmetric family, with definitive agreements to acquire Fishbone Analytics, Inc. and Iceberg Networks. These strategic additions will make the combined Highmetric the largest pure-play ServiceNow partner in the world, with 300 team members who bring expertise and experience across ServiceNow offerings with the added benefit of global delivery capabilities.
“7MA executed an incredibly efficient process allowing Gryphon to holistically canvas the ServiceNow Partner ecosystem and strategically select Highmetric, Fishbone Analytics, and Iceberg Networks to establish the world’s largest pure-play ServiceNow services platform. 7MA leveraged its industry expertise and relationships to facilitate these introductions, while also delivering a robust pipeline of future add-on acquisition opportunities. We look forward to continuing our partnership with 7MA as we look to grow Highmetric as well as our Microsoft Azure-focused platform, 3Cloud.” – Gabe Stephenson, Managing Director, Gryphon Investors
Highmetric is an Elite Partner of ServiceNow, the cloud computing platform that helps companies optimize digital workflows, and offers significant capabilities in Customer Service Management, HR & Employee IT Service Management, and IT Operations Management. Named ServiceNow’s Global Partner of the Year in 2021 for its Customer Service Management offering, Highmetric serves customers across many industries, including the financial services, business services, technology, industrials & energy sectors, as well as the U.S. Government.
Calgary-based Fishbone Analytics, led by Matt Nielsen, CEO, is an Elite ServiceNow Partner that brings domain expertise in the areas of Integrations, HR Service Delivery, Customer Service Management, IT Operations Management, IT Asset Management, IT Business Management, and IT Service Management. Iceberg Networks, led by Ken McPherson, CEO, is the 2021 ServiceNow Global Premier Partner of the Year and 2021 Americas Premier Partner of the Year, and brings sophisticated Security Operations Management and Governance, Risk & Compliance / Integrated Risk Management to the combined entity. Iceberg Networks’ deep domain expertise and security operations enable their customers to make trusted, aggregated, and transparent business decisions.
Gabe Stephenson, Managing Director at Gryphon said, “Gryphon is extremely excited to be partnering with the talented teams at Highmetric, Fishbone, and Iceberg. We have a well-developed thesis around the power of ServiceNow to optimize digital transformation workflows and believe that these are the best three businesses for us to initially invest behind to create a differentiated market leader in this space.” Alex Earls, Deal Partner and Head of Gryphon’s Business Services Group, added, “This investment is a strong match with our past track record and we are looking forward to supporting management to rapidly scale the business organically and through additional strategic acquisitions.”
As part of the transaction, Matt Stoyka has joined Highmetric as CEO and Den Roenfeldt has become Executive Chair. Mr. Stoyka has over 20 years of experience in both the technology services and manufacturing industries and most recently served as the Chief Solutions Officer and Chief Relationship Officer at Rackspace. Mr. Roenfeldt was most recently a Deloitte Consulting Senior Principal and served as the Global Lead Client Services Partner for Deloitte’s ServiceNow business across the firm.
Mr. Stoyka said, “The combination of Highmetric, Fishbone Analytics, and Iceberg Networks represents a complete and total commitment to the ServiceNow ecosystem and to our customers. Our customers have told us they need a full-service firm with domain expertise enhanced by deep industry focus. We are primed and ready to work closely with our clients and ServiceNow to introduce powerful workflow solutions that drive meaningful business results. With the support of Gryphon Investors, we will also continue to invest heavily in the growth of our amazing and talented team. It is a privilege to be part of this transformation and to have the ability to influence and positively impact our customers, our partners, and our communities.”
“Gryphon and 7MA’s partnership is defined by focused and efficient processes and aggressive execution. It’s been a pleasure to support the incredibly successful Gryphon team and play a role in establishing the world’s largest pure-play ServiceNow partner. We are grateful and excited to continue the partnership as Gryphon looks to grow the Highmetric platform,” said Tim Frye, Senior Director, 7 Mile Advisors.
7 Mile Advisors acted as a strategic buyside advisor to Gryphon throughout the execution of this transaction. The 7 Mile team has a history of successfully supporting key private equity firms and strategic acquirors on their investment strategies and have been active over the past 14 months with 27 closed transactions in the Business Services ecosystem. For additional information on recent 7 Mile transactions, or to view industry M&A reports, please visit 7mileadvisors.com or reach out to our team of professionals.
About 7 Mile Advisors
7 Mile Advisors provides Investment Banking & Advisory Services to the Business Services and Technology Industries globally. 7 Mile Advisors advises on M&A and private capital transactions, as well as provides market assessments and benchmarking. As a close-knit team with a long history together and a laser focus on our target markets, 7 Mile Advisors helps its clients sell companies, raise capital, grow through acquisitions, and evaluate new markets. All securities transactions are executed by 7M Securities, LLC, member FINRA / SIPC. For more information, including research on the M&A markets, visit www.7mileadvisors.com.
About Gryphon Investors
Based in San Francisco, Gryphon Investors (www.gryphoninvestors.com) is a leading private equity firm focused on profitably growing and competitively enhancing middle-market companies in partnership with experienced management. The firm has managed over $5.0 billion of equity investments and capital since 1997. Gryphon targets making equity investments of $50 million to $300 million in portfolio companies with enterprise values ranging from approximately $100 million to $600 million. Gryphon prioritizes investment opportunities where it can form strong partnerships with owners and executives to build leading companies, utilizing Gryphon’s capital, specialized professional resources, and operational expertise.
About Highmetric
Highmetric is a technology strategy, design and operations partner to public and private organizations around the world, with unmatched expertise on the ServiceNow platform, the leading digital transformation and workflow engine in the world. In business for over 20 years, Highmetric offers expertise in Service Management, Intelligent Integrations, and Risk and Security Management. By providing guidance through the complex technology landscape, Highmetric helps clients develop the digital strategies that allow them to engage in new opportunities and realize their vision. For more information, please visit www.highmetric.com.
About Fishbone Analytics
Founded in 2013 as an Analytics-as-a-Service Company, Fishbone expanded into the ServiceNow ecosystem in 2016 and is now a Canadian leader in the design, implementation, automation, and support of business workflows on the ServiceNow platform. Based in Calgary, Alberta, the company’s ServiceNow practice is aligned to ServiceNow’s core capabilities including HR Service Delivery, Customer Service Management, IT Operations Management, IT Asset Management, IT Business Management, and IT Service Management. For more information please visit www.fishbone-analytics.com.
About Iceberg Networks
Iceberg Networks plans, deploys, and manages successful programs for Integrated Risk Management (IRM) and Security Operations across Financial Services, Health Care, Government, Manufacturing, and Retail industries. By providing trusted, aggregated, and transparent risk & security intelligence, Iceberg enables organizations to make confident and effective business decisions. For more information please visit www.icebergnetworks.com.
