ETQ Announces Acquisition by TCV

(ETQ: Farmingdale, NY & Palo Alto, CA) -- EtQ, LLC, a global leader in quality management system (QMS) and environmental, health, and safety (EHS) software has announced that it has been acquired by TCV, one of the largest technology focused growth-capital firms. TCV brings significant experience in software buyouts, having partnered with many leading software companies, including IQMS, Seismic Micro-Technology (SMT), and Genesys. The investment represents EtQ’s first institutional investment since its founding in 1992 and will enable the company to accelerate its innovation efforts, enhance its product development, and expand its international operations. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

[ad:30512]

“We selected TCV from many suitors as our first institutional investment partner given their long history of supporting leading technology companies to achieve their strategic objectives and reach their full potential,” says Glenn McCarty, CEO and co-founder of EtQ. “We sought a partner that would not only align with us on achieving our vision and advancing our innovation strategy, but also provide us with the experience, flexibility, and resources to accelerate our growth. TCV’s investment will allow EtQ to deepen and expand our mission of bringing best-in-class software solutions to our customers.”

EtQ has been on TCV’s radar for some time, according to Kapil Venkatachalam, General Partner at TCV. “We have tracked EtQ for several years and have been impressed with its flexible product offering, customer-centric approach, and consistent execution,” says Venkatachalam. “We are excited to partner with Glenn and the EtQ team in building on its established leadership in the fast-growing QMS and EHS software sector.”

“As regulations become more complex and the need to drive operational excellence grows, EtQ provides mission-critical solutions to its customers,” said Bob Burke, Venture Partner at TCV. “We are excited to build on the company’s legacy of product innovation and contribute to the next phase of EtQ’s growth.”

EtQ’s platform enables organizations to achieve best-in-class business processes and drive operational excellence. EtQ’s SaaS and on-premise software solutions promote adherence to regulatory and commercial standards, reduce the cost of quality, enhance supply chain management, and enable organizations to sustain their competitive advantage. EtQ pioneered a flexible product architecture which enables users to create and configure workflows and tools to supplement its out-of-the box functionality.

According to LNS Research, EtQ is one of the leading vendors in the QMS and EHS software spaces which LNS Research expects to be a $4.8 billion market. “The EtQ team has done a great job of leveraging cutting-edge technology to keep its platform modern, and the company serves many Fortune 500 customers across multiple verticals, which is unique in this market,” says Matthew Littlefield, principal at LNS Research.

“EtQ Reliance is a valued enterprise solution at Kimberly-Clark”, says Ben Bollenbacher, director of quality, supplier management, and EHS capabilities at Kimberly-Clark Corporation. “With EtQ, we have been able to streamline and standardize our QMS, SQM, and EHS processes, create more visibility and control, and extend our business processes to our supply-chain. EtQ is a platform that provides us with the flexibility and functionality to achieve global operational excellence, and we are grateful for their robust platform and support.”

Evercore served as financial advisor to EtQ, and KeyBanc served as financial advisor to TCV.

TCV’s investment in EtQ was funded from TCV IX, a growth equity fund with $2.5 billion of committed capital.

About TCV
Founded in 1995, TCV provides capital to growth-stage private and public companies in the technology industry. TCV has invested over $9 billion in leading technology companies and has helped guide CEOs through more than 100 IPOs and strategic acquisitions.

TCV’s software investments include Altiris, Ariba, ExactTarget, FinancialForce, Genesys Software, IQMS, OSIsoft, Sitecore, SMT, and Splunk. TCV is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with offices in New York and London. For more information about TCV, including a complete list of TCV investments, please visit http://www.tcv.com.

About The Author