ST. LOUIS – Thompson Street Capital Partners (“TSCP”), a private equity firm based in St. Louis, today announced the completion of a single-asset secondary market transaction to continue its partnership with Gurobi Optimization (“Gurobi”), a leading provider of mathematical optimization software. The transaction was co-led by funds managed by Hamilton Lane (Nasdaq:HLNE)and StepStone Group, supported by a diverse group of high quality new and existing investors, and represents TSCP’s second continuation fund.
The newly formed continuation fund was established to acquire Gurobi and includes access to substantial add-on capital to drive growth initiatives, including strategic acquisitions. The transaction also includes significant equity contributions from the founders and management of Gurobi.
Gurobi provides more than 1,200 customers globally with mathematical optimization software to leverage data into intelligent decisions via prescriptive analytics.
Since acquiring Gurobi in 2017 as a TSCP Fund IV investment, TSCP has partnered with the founders and management team to execute a value creation strategy focused on market-leading technological innovation, capital-efficient revenue operations, pricing and packaging optimization, and an emphasis on attracting and empowering the most talented professionals in the field of decision intelligence. During TSCP’s ownership, annual recurring revenue and employee count both increased by a factor of more than 8x.
“Establishing our second continuation fund represents a significant event for Thompson Street,” said Bob Dunn, Managing Partner of TSCP. “Gurobi is one of the best-performing portfolio companies in TSCP’s history, and we are excited to continue our partnership with the business through this vehicle. We are grateful to Hamilton Lane, StepStone, and all the investors who supported this effort.”
Dr. Edward Rothberg, co-founder and chairman of Gurobi, remarked, “We have greatly benefited from our collaboration with Thompson Street, and the creation of this continuation fund allows us to further expand on the tremendous success we have achieved together.”
Duke Perrucci, CEO of Gurobi, stated, “Our partnership with TSCP ensures we continue to deliver our customers the most powerful solver and best support in the industry, helping these organizations drive optimal business decisions and outcomes. This new capital commitment will also enable us to pursue complementary acquisitions to expand our product platform and deliver new value to customers.”
Craig Albrecht, Managing Director at TSCP, added, “Gurobi is an extraordinary business with amazing people, and we feel fortunate to extend our partnership with the company to pursue sustained growth, innovation and market leadership within the rapidly growing domain of prescriptive analytics.”
Evercore served as financial advisor to TSCP in the transaction with Kirkland & Ellis serving as TSCP’s legal counsel. Sidley Austin served as legal counsel to Gurobi.
About Thompson Street Capital Partners
Thompson Street Capital Partners is a St. Louis-based private equity firm focused on investing in founder-led middle market businesses in the Software & Technology, Life Sciences & Healthcare, and Business and Consumer Services and Products sectors. TSCP partners with management teams to increase value by accelerating growth, both organically and via acquisitions.
About Gurobi Optimization
Founded in 2008, Gurobi Optimization is a leading mathematical optimization and decision intelligence provider. Now serving more than 1,200 customers worldwide, Gurobi’s mathematical optimization solver supports dozens of industries and business problems where prescriptive analytics can help deliver optimal decisions and outcomes.