Vista Equity Partners to acquire Wellington Financial Fund III co. Marketlive

It is always a bittersweet moment when the email comes in: “Hey, we are being acquired by XYZ!”

Since our team entered the U.S. market in 2009, there has been no end of those sorts of emails. Our U.S.-based portfolio just seems to transact on a quarterly basis (even weekly sometimes). Today it is Marketlive, our Petaluma, California-based company that is being acquired as part of an exciting PE-backed roll-up.

Marketlive provides software, services and expertise specifically for mid-sized specialty retailers. One of the appeals to us when we funded in 2011 was that the team had created the industry’s first Commerce-as-a-Service offering, incorporating the company’s hosted eCommerce platform, applied commerce strategy solutions and a powerful network of retailers, technology providers and experts. MarketLive drives hundreds of retail websites generating billions in sales annually.

The Company was backed by a great group of VC investors including Globespan Capital, JAFCO Ventures (now ICON Ventures), Northgate Capital, Sequoia Capital and Sigma Partners.

Marketlive asked us to propose a “one-stop shop” financing, which was a first at the time for our U.S. business. Wellington provided both the revolving line of credit as well as the non-amortizing growth term loan. The management team decided that it was just easier to work with one lender, although our capital is usually junior to a commercial bank revolver.

Founder Ken Burke and his team should be very proud of what they’ve accomplished to date, and what the future holds under Vista Equity Partners’ umbrella.

MRM