Fast-growing BankTech Software Provider Abrigo Announces Strategic Growth Investment from Carlyle

Abrigo, a leading technology provider of compliance, risk, and lending solutions for financial institutions, announced today it has secured a strategic growth investment from funds managed by Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG). Abrigo will use the investment to accelerate its commitment to helping financial institutions manage risk and drive growth. Abrigo’s current majority investor, Accel-KKR, will retain a significant equity stake in the Company and partner with Carlyle to support the Company’s long-term growth plan. Wayne Roberts, Chief Executive Officer of Abrigo, will continue to lead the Company supported by the existing management team.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Abrigo provides market-leading software solutions to enable its customers to comply with ever changing regulatory compliance requirements, process loans faster and more efficiently to drive growth and profitability, and leverage data to provide insights to their customers. The Company serves over 2,300 customers and has experienced significant momentum with revenue growth of over 30% year-over-year.  

The strategic growth investment from Carlyle in partnership with Accel-KKR will enable Abrigo to further accelerate sales growth, deepen its strong customer relationships, and pursue significant and transformational M&A.  

“Our customers play a vital role in our economy and that was never more apparent than the past 18 months.  Abrigo is proud to serve financial institutions and help them make big things happen,” said Roberts. “It has also been a period of unprecedented growth and success for Abrigo.  We are excited to tap into Carlyle’s global scale, industry expertise and diverse perspectives to continue our journey to become the technology partner of choice for financial institutions.  The next chapter for Abrigo will be even bigger, faster and bolder, and we are thrilled to partner with Carlyle and Accel-KKR to continue building the Company that everyone wants to join and no one wants to leave.” 

“Benefitting from the secular trend towards increased digitization of financial institutions, Abrigo is at the forefront of delivering mission-critical products to help financial institutions succeed,” said Carlyle Managing Director Anna Tye. “We are honored to support Abrigo Management and excited to partner with Accel-KKR as the Company continues to scale its industry leading platforms, while leveraging Carlyle’s extensive fintech investing experience to help drive continued product innovation and accelerate growth.”  

“Since Accel-KKR’s initial investment with Abrigo in 2015, we have worked closely with the management team to build a category leader solving major pain points for financial institutions, which are increasingly focused on automating their business processes,” said Park Durrett, Managing Director at Accel-KKR. “We could not be more pleased to continue our partnership with Abrigo as they grow their breadth of offerings and value to customers.  We are equally thrilled to welcome Carlyle as a value-add partner to execute on Abrigo’s long-term growth strategy together.”

Carlyle’s investment in Abrigo builds on the firm’s momentum in its software investing practice over the past year, during which Carlyle’s Technology team has invested in software businesses including Unison, Jagex and NEOGOV. This investment is also a continuation of Carlyle’s long-term global commitment to Financial Technology, in which it has invested ~$4 billion of equity since inception. Carlyle’s significant fintech experience includes investments in leading businesses such as ION, Dealogic, OpenLink, SS&C, Primatics, and Calastone, among others.

Goldman Sachs acted as lead financial advisor and Raymond James acted as financial advisor to Abrigo as a part of this transaction. Kirkland & Ellis acted as the Company’s legal advisor and Alston & Bird acted as Carlyle’s legal advisor. 

About Abrigo
Abrigo is a leading technology provider of compliance, credit risk, lending, and asset/liability management solutions that financial institutions use to manage risk and drive growth. Our software automates key processes – from anti-money laundering to asset/liability management to fraud detection to lending solutions – empowering our customers by addressing their Enterprise Risk Management needs. Visit www.abrigo.com to learn more. Follow Abrigo on social media using @WeAreAbrigo.

About Carlyle
Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit and Investment Solutions. With $276 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2021, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. Carlyle employs nearly 1,800 people in 27 offices across five continents. Further information is available at carlyle.com. Follow Carlyle on Twitter @OneCarlyle.

About Accel-KKR
Accel-KKR is a technology-focused investment firm with over $10 billion in capital commitments. The firm focuses on software and IT-enabled businesses, well-positioned for topline and bottom-line growth. At the core of Accel-KKR’s investment strategy is a commitment to developing strong partnerships with the management teams of its portfolio companies and a focus on building value alongside management by leveraging the significant resources available through the Accel-KKR network. Accel-KKR focuses on middle-market companies and provides a broad range of capital solutions including buyout capital, minority-growth investments, and credit alternatives. Accel-KKR also invests across a wide range of transaction types including private company recapitalizations, divisional carve-outs and going-private transactions. In 2019 and 2020, Inc. named Accel-KKR to “PE 50 – The Best Private Equity Firms for Entrepreneurs”, its annual list of founder-friendly private equity firms. Accel-KKR is headquartered in Menlo Park with additional offices in Atlanta and London. To learn more, visit accel-kkr.com.