Spire Capital has made an investment in Advocate Networks, a provider of technology business management (TBM) and technology expense management (TEM) services.
Advocate provides TBM and TEM services to more than 600 enterprise customers – whose annual IT spend is between $50 million and $500 million. The company’s services are used to manage IT expenses and contracts, to plan IT expenditures, and to assemble business and data analytics. Recurring revenue for Advocate accounts for nearly 70% of its annual revenue.
Since its founding in 2001, Advocate has assessed over $50 billion in IT spending and in the last two years alone, has helped its customers save over $200 million. The company is headquartered near Atlanta in Norcross, Georgia.
Spire is partnering on this transaction with Advocate’s co-CEOs, Tim Wise and Scott Fogle.
“Tim Wise and Scott Fogle have built an incredible company and assembled a deeply talented management team that has grown to become the leader in managed services for TBM and TEM,” said David Schaible, a partner at Spire. “Spire bases its investment thesis on the conviction that IT services represent an ever-evolving area of opportunity. Advocate has positioned its platform and service offerings alongside its software partners to deliver tremendous value for its customers. We are proud to partner with the company to effectuate their next stage of growth.”
New York City-based Spire invests from $15 million to $50 million in companies with revenues of at least $10 million and EBITDA of at least $3 million. Sectors of interest include technology-enabled business services, media, communications, and education.
“After a rigorous process that started in 2019, we selected Spire Capital as our strategic partner,” said Messrs. Wise and Fogle in a released statement. “We feel the culture fit is strong, the strategic alignment is sound, and the opportunity to scale the business with David and his team is outstanding. We are delighted to start the next chapter of growth, innovation, and TBM leadership with Spire.”
Synovus Bank provided debt to support Spire’s buy and Citizens M&A Advisory was the financial advisor to Advocate.
The investment in Advocate is Spire’s second platform through its fourth fund.
Private Equity Professional | September 1, 2020
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