The acquisition of Municode by CivicPlus and Insight Partners highlights Ascend’s expertise in the highly active GovTech market.
TYSONS, VA (November 22, 2022) – Ascend Capital Group (“Ascend”) is proud to announce that the firm won The M&A Advisor’s “Information Technology Deal of the Year” award in the over $100 million category for advising Municode on its sale to CivicPlus and Insight Partners. The award was presented at the 21st Annual M&A Advisor Awards gala at The New York Athletic Club on Tuesday, November 15, 2022, where top professionals in M&A gathered to recognize and celebrate the best deals and professionals of the year. This year, over 350 nominees representing over 500 companies became finalists for the awards.
“Our team is thrilled to receive this award and proud to have played a role in creating a strong combined entity that brought together two GovTech companies with similar cultures and values,” said Eric Parekh, Managing Director at Ascend. “Our client Municode is at the heart of this award, and it was a pleasure working with their team throughout the entire transaction process. With record numbers of technology deals being consummated in 2021 and 2022, we are honored to be recognized on a national basis for this great outcome and humbled to be among such distinguished company.”
Municode is the largest codifier of legal documents for local governments in the United States and a nationally recognized provider of agenda and meeting management, document management, and municipal website design software solutions. Municode initially hired Ascend in a buy-side capacity to develop a comprehensive, end-to-end M&A strategy. Over the course of the engagement, Ascend developed an in-depth familiarity with Municode and what was important to the shareholders — culture, people, and vision. As Municode began entertaining a sale, they hired Ascend as their sell-side advisor.
“We wanted to be confident that we were doing the right thing for our business, our clients, and most importantly, our people,” said Eric Grant, President & CEO at Municode. “Ascend’s people-first philosophy was the perfect fit for us. They not only understood how to position us in the market to ensure an exceptional outcome, but also that the number one priority was finding a partner who respected and valued our team.”
“We were proud to leverage our knowledge and relationships within the GovTech space to find Municode an ideal partner,” said DJ Palmer, Managing Director at Ascend. “The negotiated deal was closed in under 45 days and accomplished all goals set by Municode’s shareholders. Furthermore, the acquisition was transformative to the GovTech marketplace, creating an organization that is one of the largest players in the space through the service of over 7,000 municipalities.”
Palmer was also recognized at the event as a recipient of The M&A Advisor’s 13th Annual Emerging Leaders Award, which was announced earlier this year. In addition, Ascend was named a finalist in two other categories: Corporate/Strategic Deal of the Year (between $100M – $250M) and M&A Deal of the Year (between $100M – $250M).
Now in its 24th year, The M&A Advisor was founded to offer insights and intelligence on mergers and acquisitions, establishing the industry’s leading media outlet in 1998. Today, the firm is recognized as the world’s premier leadership organization for mergers & acquisitions, restructuring and corporate finance professionals, and delivering a range of integrated services from offices in New York and London.
Ascend congratulates all 21st Annual M&A Advisor Awards recipients. View the full list of Award Winners for the 21st Annual M&A Advisor Awards here and the 13th Annual Emerging Leaders Awards here.
