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Navigating Complex, International Deal Requirements and Defining Growth Opportunities to Identify the Optimal Partnership

Innovative recreational booking and management software platform with unique transaction requirements gains a partner with long-term strategic planning and operational expertise while satisfying complex deal requirements.

Services Provided

Sell-Side Transactions

Date

December 2023

Type

Founder-Owned

Vertical

Financial Infrastructure & Payment Technology

Intelligenz is an innovative, cloud-hosted, and client-server-based recreational booking and management software platform built for municipalities, parks and recreation centers, and universities to manage facilities, bookings, and operations. From its customer-facing web portal and powerful booking engine to its financial management and payments modules, Intelligenz delivers a fully integrated platform that helps promote efficiencies across all staff and facilities, provides seamless booking experiences and access to critical information, and manages all aspects of operations from a single interface. Serving major municipalities and universities with over 10,000 facilities across North America, Intelligenz’s end-to-end platform is flexible and scalable, simplifying the most complex processes and enhancing visibility across municipalities.

The Situation

Intelligenz is an international recreational management software platform that facilities, athletic centers, and operations teams use to promote internal efficiencies, improve their workflows, and provide seamless end-user experiences. Having developed a relationship on a previous transaction in the last year, the company’s founder approached Ascend about selling most of the business while maintaining ownership of its services in one sector. The Intelligenz team knew we understood the market and would be able to navigate the challenges of selling an international business while achieving their unique transaction requirements. We guided Intelligenz through the lifecycle of the transaction, including:

  • Organizing and preparing the company for a limited sale process, including a bottom-up financial consolidation model, KPI deep dive analysis, and customized positioning materials
  • Facilitating communications with a limited and thoughtfully curated buyer group
  • Shepherding the company through various cross border intricacies related to Canada, U.K. and Australia in order to optimize deal structuring and provide a seamless transition through closing
  • Defining growth opportunities by buyer group to create a competitive environment, even among limited buyers, thereby optimizing valuation and terms
  • Negotiating letters of intent and terms to ensure the seller’s unique deal requirements were met
Our preferred sale transaction structure was highly complex and we needed a trusted advisor who acutely understood the market and could navigate our unique requirements. The Ascend team delivered on everything we asked, innovatively presenting Intelligenz’s growth potential to a diverse set of buyers to create significant interest and drive multiple offers to achieve an optimal outcome for all parties involved.

Tim Godwin

COO, Intelligenz

The Strategy

Intelligenz is a powerful product that combines an annual subscription model with a payment platform. As one of the few remaining recreation management platforms that had not been acquired, we carefully outlined the unique growth opportunities the company represented for various types of buyers, which we sorted into three buyer groups. The first buyer group focused on the recreation management space, the second on the payment platform, and the third offered services to municipalities and government agencies. We presented a unique vision to each buyer group, demonstrating how they could continue to expand the business with their respective resources and specific market opportunities.

The Execution

After presenting the specific growth opportunities to a limited set of buyers in each group, we received six LOIs. In reviewing potential partners, we looked for maximum value, as well as a partner that would be amenable to the founder’s continued use of a limited portion of the IP she had developed. We helped negotiate a deal where both parties were comfortable with the IP usage, and the founder achieved her objectives.

The Results

Despite an existing initial connection between the buyer and seller before Ascend was engaged on the deal, our team successfully negotiated a more advantageous offer for our client through the thoughtful presentation of growth opportunities and a limited competitive process. This ultimately increased the company’s valuation by 50% and secured the critical IP licensing agreement for the founder.

The Ascend Advantage

Our team’s understanding of the market and guidance on the sale and exit of the company were integral to achieving all of the seller’s transaction requirements. We were able to package and present the business in a polished manner, work through the complexities with each party, and manage the buyer communication to meet our client’s needs and drive maximum value.

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