The Situation
Having a desire to shift its ARR mix from a reseller-focused model (selling another company’s software) to a more direct sales model (selling its MCCi-owned software), MCCi sought to identify acquisitions that could continue to increase the direct sales motion of the company. In turn, MCCi’s acquisition strategy was focused on understanding the types of companies and products that overlapped with its ideal customer persona (ICP) and expanded its TAM and product offering. MCCi already owned JustFOIA, a leading records request platform, but the team wanted to continue to find ways to further drive value for new and existing customers with complementary solutions. A portfolio company of Century Park Capital Partners, MCCi was familiar with Ascend’s work through a previous transaction and saw the benefit of leveraging our team’s industry knowledge in identifying companies to acquire. Knowing MCCi was focused on acquiring a partner that aligned with existing product offerings and its ICP while creating opportunities to scale, we led the team through the entire lifecycle of the transaction, including:
- Conducting proprietary market research to understand market trends for relevant software products
- Performing analysis related to cross-sell, upsell, price increases, and areas for growth to quantify the opportunity behind the potential combination
- Identifying potential sellers, including conducting outreach and vetting prospective targets
- Preparing presentation documents, including diligence data packs, investment committee materials, and combination analyses
- Managing the due diligence process
- Cultivating relationships with MCCi, CPC, GovBuilt, and third parties
Industry
- Software & Technology
Client Type
- Private Equity Backed
Services Provided
- Buy-Side Transactions
Press Release(s)
READ MCCI PRESS RELEASEThe Strategy
To help MCCi expand its product offering and meet the ever-changing demands of government agencies, we needed to ensure the company it acquired was complimentary to MCCi’s existing product set, ICP, culture, and values. We outlined a M&A strategy that would allow us to clearly define the market, determining with greater specificity the product demand, growth spots, and opportunities to expand MCCi’s existing client base. By planning and executing this playbook, we were equipped with data that paved the way to identifying the optimal partner for growth opportunities.
The Execution
Ascend conducted extensive market research to better understand customer demand, which included surveying employees to learn what products were being discussed within the company, at conferences, and by their target customers. We also reviewed MCCi’s internal data to understand customer requests and the evolution of their needs. After analyzing all the collected data, we defined the ideal customer profile (ICP) that encompassed all levels of government. This helped us determine the software asset that would best complement MCCi’s existing product offering and meet market demands.