Clairvest Announces Meriplex Recapitalization | Financial Post

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TORONTO, July 18, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Clairvest Group Inc. (TSX: CVG) (“CVG”), announced today that Meriplex Communications, Ltd. (“Meriplex”, or the “Company”), a portfolio company of CVG and Clairvest Equity Partners V (“CEP V”, collectively “Clairvest”), completed a partial realization with Vitruvian Partners (“Vitruvian”). The transaction involves the acquisition of a majority interest by Vitruvian and a meaningful equity reinvestment by Meriplex shareholders who will participate in the next chapter of growth.

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Meriplex is a leading managed IT, cybersecurity, and network services provider focusing on SMB and mid-market enterprises throughout the United States. Since Clairvest partnered with Meriplex management and CEO David Henley in October 2018, the Company successfully built a sales organization that generates industry leading organic growth rates and completed 13 acquisitions that expanded its reach to 12 offices in eight U.S. States. EBITDA in 2022 is expected to be 10x that achieved in 2017.

At closing, Clairvest’s portion of the cash proceeds are approximately US$160 million (US$48 million for CVG). Clairvest will continue to own approximately 18% of Meriplex after the transaction. The sale is expected to have a positive impact on Clairvest’s book value per share by approximately $1 over the carrying value as at March 31, 2022.

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“We are incredibly proud of the Meriplex team. They successfully executed an aggressive growth plan and matured the business into a national player,” says Mitch Green, Managing Director at Clairvest. “David and his management team have been relentless in their pursuit of opportunities to grow and strengthen the business. We are thrilled to reinvest a meaningful equity stake into the transaction along with our management partners and welcome Vitruvian, whom we believe will be a great partner for this next stage of growth.”

“Meriplex selected Clairvest in 2018 as our private equity partner to help management view the business through a different lens and provide guidance as we scaled the organization at a rapid pace. They have been reliable partners throughout our journey and played active roles where and when we needed them,” says David Henley, Founder & CEO of Meriplex. “I am very proud of what we have achieved together and am excited to continue growing Meriplex and our customer relationships with two great partners – Vitruvian and Clairvest.”

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Q Advisors, a global TMT investment banking boutique, acted as financial advisor to Meriplex in connection with the transaction. Torys LLP acted as legal advisor to Meriplex.

About Clairvest
Clairvest’s mission is to partner with entrepreneurs to help them build strategically significant businesses. Founded in 1987 by a group of successful Canadian entrepreneurs, Clairvest is a top performing private equity management firm with over CAD $3.2 billion of capital under management. Clairvest invests its own capital and that of third parties through the Clairvest Equity Partners limited partnerships in owner-led businesses. Under the current management team, Clairvest has initiated investments in 58 different platform companies and generated top quartile performance over an extended period.

Contact Information
Stephanie Lo
Manager, Investor Relations and Marketing
Clairvest Group Inc.
Tel: (416) 925-9270
stephaniel@clairvest.com