Home / Deals / Advised Foundry, a leading provider of high-end visual effects and 3D design software, on its sale to Roper Technologies

Advised Foundry, a leading provider of high-end visual effects and 3D design software, on its sale to Roper Technologies
Mar 2019
(a portfolio company of Hg)
acquired by
$550 million
  • Sector: Application Software; Industrial Tech
  • Deal Type: Strategic Deals; Private Equity Deals
  • Engagement type: Sellside
  • Size: $550 million
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Arma Partners is pleased to announce that it has acted as exclusive financial advisor to Foundry, a portfolio company of Hg, on its sale to Roper Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ROP), a diversified technology company, for £410 million.

Foundry is a leading provider of high-end visual effects and 3D design software for Media & Entertainment, visualisation and design-oriented industries. It provides award-winning creative software for film post-production visual effects with its Nuke product range and a series of complementary products. Foundry’s Digital Design products offer advanced 3D modelling, visualisation and design variation capabilities to designers and artists across a broad range of sectors including footwear and apparel. With Athera, Foundry is the first company to offer a fully cloud-based solution for the VFX industry with software, compute, storage and rendering capabilities. Foundry enables clients like Pixar, ILM, MPC, Walt Disney Animation and Weta Digital as well as automotive, footwear, apparel and technology companies such as Mercedes, New Balance, Adidas and Google to turn incredible ideas into reality by solving complex creative challenges.

Foundry was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in London, with offices in Manchester and Austin. It has more than 6,000 customers in over 100 countries and employs c.300 people.

This transaction demonstrates Arma Partners’ outstanding track record of building long-term client relationships as a trusted advisor and helping crystallise shareholder value, having advised Foundry on three occasions over the last decade, including the £77 million sale from Advent Venture Partners to The Carlyle Group in 2011 and the subsequent £200 million sale to Hg in 2015.

-Foundry is a leading provider of high end visual effects and 3D design software for Media & Entertainment, visualisation and design-oriented industries

-It provides award-winning creative software for film post production visual effects with its Nuke product range and a series of complementary products, featuring every VFX Oscar winning film since 2009

-Foundry’s Digital Design products offer advanced 3D modelling, visualisation and design variation capabilities to designers and artists across a broad range of sectors including footwear and apparel

-Pixar, ILM, MPC, Walt Disney Animation and Weta Digital as well as automotive, footwear, apparel and technology companies such as Mercedes, New Balance, Adidas and Google are part of Foundry’s 6,000+ customers

-Headquartered in London, Foundry was founded in 1996 and employs c.300 people today

-Roper is a diversified technology company with annual revenues of $5.2 billion (FY18A)

-It operates businesses that design and develop software (both license and software-as-a-service) and engineered products and solutions for a variety of niche end markets

-Have proven strong operating capabilities that enables their companies to convert end-market potential into profitable growth and cash flow

-Roper is listed and a component of the S&P 500, Fortune 1000 and Russell 1000 Indexes and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ROP

-The transaction supports Foundry’s leading position in the VFX industry, with Roper having a successful history of acquiring and growing well-run technology companies in niche markets, and will significantly benefit the further expansion into digital design end markets

-The move will also enable Foundry to continue investing into product improvement, R&D and technology innovation and partnerships with global leaders in the industry

-By having a long-term partner on board, Foundry can build on its strong development capabilities to drive enterprise adoption of the digital design offering and pioneer revolutionary new products such as Athera

-The transaction enables Foundry to remain an independent company, with Roper assuming ownership from Hg

-Arma Partners had forged a close relationship with Foundry over several years, having advised them on three occasions over the last decade, including the £77 million sale from Advent Venture Partners to The Carlyle Group in 2011 and the subsequent £200 million sale to Hg in 2015

-Arma supported Foundry’s management in preparing materials for the exit process, including detailed financial analysis, strategic positioning and valuation, development of marketing materials and coordinating interactions with potential counterparties

-Arma helped the company manage inbound interest, while driving competitive tension by supporting outreach to the most qualified potential buyers

-Overall, Arma delivered a highly successful exit for Hg and other shareholders, managing an array of US and European buyers against an accelerated timeframe, and effectively balancing deal certainty with a desire to maximise value

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