ECI acquired by Leonard Green & Partners

23 November 2020


ECI Software Solutions (ECI), a supplier of cloud-based business management software solutions for small and medium sized companies, has announced that Leonard Green & Partners (LGP) will acquire a majority stake in the company from funds advised by Apax Partners and The Carlyle Group. Upon completion of the transaction, funds advised by Apax Partners, which acquired ECI in 2017, will retain a minority stake in ECI. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

ECI, which acquired Spruce Computer Systems Ltd in 2019, provide enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, such as accounting, purchasing, warehousing and inventory management, to more than 22,000 customers globally. Under the Apax Funds’ and Carlyle’s ownership, ECI has experienced rapid growth both organically and through strategic mergers and acquisitions. Since 2017, ECI has made 15 acquisitions, helping it gain significant market share and scale internationally, with sizable transactions in Europe and Australia consolidating its presence in those regions.

"The ECI team and I have had a powerful partnership with Apax and Carlyle as we have built the company into a leading SaaS [software as a service] business software solutions and services provider," said Ron Books, ECI's chief executive officer. "They have been instrumental in the tremendous growth of our company, and we are proud of what we accomplished together. We are excited to welcome LGP as our new partner, and I am confident that this is the right choice for our future – and the future of our 1,700 employees and more than 22,000 customers."

“We are delighted to be partnering with a mission-driven company like ECI, which is focused on supporting the activities and growth of small to medium-sized businesses around the world,” said Usama Cortas, partner at LGP. “We invest in companies that win with people, have a differentiated culture and are market leaders with multiple ways to grow – and ECI is the perfect example. ECI has built an incredible track record of success, and we are excited to be partnering with ECI Management and Apax to support and accelerate the next phase of the company’s growth.”