GRO and Kirk Kapital announce the sale of Tacton to Rubicon Technology Partners
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – 13 July, 2023 – GRO Fund I and Kirk Kapital today announced that they have agreed to sell Tacton, the global category leader in Configure, Price, Quote (“CPQ”) software, to Rubicon Technology Partners. Additionally, GRO Fund III has also invested in Tacton alongside Rubicon Technology Partners to join them in the next leg of the company’s scaling journey.
Tacton is the leading global configuration platform for B2B complex manufacturing. Drawing on years of extensive research and a distinct dynamic and constraint-based solving technology, the company has unlocked a groundbreaking approach that enables B2B manufacturers to tackle intrinsically complex demands and sales processes in the B2B manufacturing ecosystem. By solving critical product configuration challenges, Tacton offers crucial support in optimizing efficiency, enhancing the end-customer experience, and fostering sustainability.
GRO and Kirk Kapital invested in Tacton in 2017 with the aim of supporting the company’s vision of a digital transformation of complex manufacturers’ sales processes. During GRO and Kirk Kapital’s partnership with Tacton, key strategic themes have been centered around establishing the organizational basis to scale, transitioning the business model to SaaS, scaling and streamlining the company’s commercial organization, entering and expanding in the US market, as well as sustaining the company’s thought leadership as the category leader, as recognized by Gartner® in the 2022 Magic Quadrant™ for CPQ Software.
Tacton has significant business momentum and will now partner with Rubicon Technology Partners alongside GRO to support the next phase of the company’s continued growth journey globally.
Bo Gyldenvang, CEO of Tacton, says: “It has been a true privilege to be part of Tacton’s 25 years of history. Coming from a consultancy-driven outset, Tacton has transformed into a pure SaaS company and today delivers a best-in-class standardized product to the largest manufacturers globally during GRO and Kirk Kapital’s ownership. Supported by targeted investments from GRO and Kirk Kapital in global expansion and product development, we are proud that Tacton has achieved the leading role in the CPQ domain. Tacton is very well positioned to take the next step in supporting the largest global manufacturers through their digital transformation. We are excited about our new partnership with Rubicon Technology Partners and GRO, who both share our ambition and product vision to become the leading cloud solution for manufacturers.”
Lars Lunde, Partner at GRO, comments: “We have been on an amazing transformational journey with Tacton in the last six years. Based on their unique product approach, Tacton has established themselves as the recognized market leader in CPQ for complex manufacturers. It has been a true pleasure working with the talented Tacton team and we are convinced that the company has a bright future ahead of them as they seek to scale even further globally. We are therefore grateful that GRO Fund III will continue on the journey with Tacton together with Rubicon Technology Partners, who shares our vision for the company and undoubtedly will be able to accelerate Tacton’s path towards this vision.”
Kim Gulstad, CEO of Kirk Kapital, comments: “Kirk Kapital invested in Tacton together with GRO Capital about six years ago. I have highly appreciated the contribution by GRO Capital. Further, I have thoroughly enjoyed the collaboration with the other co-shareholders, board of directors, management and employees of Tacton, all of whom have contributed to making Tacton a world leader within CPQ for complex manufacturers. Kirk Kapital is pleased to realize a sound return on our investment.”
William Blair acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Tacton and its shareholders, GRO and Kirk Kapital. Evercore acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Rubicon Technology Partners.
About Tacton
Tacton is a category leading provider of a cloud based Configure, Price, Quote (“CPQ”) software platform for global enterprises in the B2B manufacturing domain. Since 1998, Tacton has been at the forefront of transforming and simplifying the way B2B manufacturers handle complex sales processes and deliver seamless customization of products to their customers. The company is trusted by global customers such as ABB, Tetra Pak, Scania, and Siemens. Tacton is headquartered in Stockholm, with offices in Chicago, Karlsruhe, Warsaw, and Tokyo.
To learn more about Tacton, visit www.tacton.com and www.linkedin.com/company/tacton-systems-ab
About GRO
GRO is a leading Northern European private equity firm with an exclusive focus on high-quality B2B software companies with strong growth prospects. GRO serves as an active owner developing portfolio companies with a view to create long-term value. GRO has approximately EUR 1bn in AUM.
For more information about GRO please visit www.grocapital.dk and www.linkedin.com/company/gro-capital
About Kirk Kapital
Kirk Kapital is a family-owned investment company focusing on long-term value creation. Kirk Kapital businesses areas include Strategic Investments, Financial Investments, and Family Office Services. Kirk Kapital’s activities within Strategic Investments are focused around acquiring minority positions in Nordic medium and larger sized companies, which have market leading positions in long-term growth industries. Kirk Kapital has 16 active strategic investments and manages approximately EUR 1.5bn in AUM.
For further information about Kirk Kapital please visit www.kirkkapital.dk and www.linkedin.com/company/kirkkapital
About Rubicon Technology Partners
Rubicon Technology Partners invests in enterprise software companies with proven products and talented management teams to help grow and scale their businesses. Rubicon enables companies to adapt to the changing requirements of their businesses as they grow and scale using a proven set of proprietary processes, best practices and a portfolio-wide engagement model. Rubicon has over $3.5 billion in assets under management and is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado with additional offices in New Haven, Connecticut and Palo Alto, California.
For more information about Rubicon please visit www.rubicontp.com.
GRO Contact
Lars Lunde, Partner
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