K2fly has been delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) after global technology-focused investment firm Accel-KKR completed its $38 million acquisition via a scheme of arrangement.
Accel-KKR, which has US$19 billion ($28.16 billion) in committed capital across buyout, growth capital, and credit funds, on 20 June 2024 signed a letter of intent to acquire K2fly from CSBP, Maptek, Tribeca Investment Partners, Regal Partners (ASX:RPL), and others.
The cash consideration Accel-KKR paid is reportedly valued at $0.19 per share.
Steinepreis Paganin acted as legal advisors for the target on the sale to Argyle Bidco, a company ultimately controlled by US-based Accel-KKR Capital Partners, VII, LP, via a scheme of arrangement.
Steinepreis Paganin Partner Toby Hicks guided K2fly through the transaction that started with a strategic review and ended with a negotiated acquisition, which was approved by the Supreme Court of Western Australia on 16 September 2024 and formally implemented on 27 September.
Argonaut PCF and Atrico were K2fly’s financial advisors for the deal.
DLA Piper was retained as Accel-KKR’s legal advisor, while Torch Partners Corporate Finance acted as its financial advisor.
K2fly CEO Nic Pollock says the deal was made with a shared understanding of the mining and resources sector with deep sector expertise in fast-paced, high-risk industries.
K2fly provides enterprise-level resource governance solutions for ‘net positive impact’ in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compliance, disclosure and technical assurance, to operations of mining and asset intensive industries through its platform-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) cloud solutions.
The acquisition combines the regulatory, compliance and disclosure tech business with workforce, safety, training and reporting business INX Software to create one of Australia’s largest providers of mission-critical software for high-risk industries.
K2fly, which supports mining operations in 900 locations across 62 countries, will bolster INX’s global regulatory compliance business, bringing software that addresses industry needs such as land and tailings management, environmental monitoring and rehabilitation, ground disturbance, land access planning and heritage.
Its suite will complement INX Software’s portfolio of software solutions used by global companies to manage their workforce management, safety, compliance, training, and reporting requirements.
INX Chief Executive Marcus Ashby says the two Perth-based companies are a natural fit, with many clients in common and complementary software solutions.
The combined SaaS powerhouse will offer a suite of specialist software used by the mining and resource sector, as well as other large, fast-paced, remote and complex operations in health, transport, energy and utilities, engineering, manufacturing and government.
Accel-KKR focuses on middle-market companies and provides a broad range of capital solutions, including buyout capital, minority-growth investments, and credit alternatives.
The firm also invests across various transaction types, including private company recapitalisations, divisional carve-outs and going-private transactions.
At the core of Accel-KKR’s investment strategy is developing strong partnerships with the management teams of its portfolio companies and a focus on building value alongside management by leveraging the significant resources available through the Accel-KKR network.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: K2fly
