Marlin Equity Partners has acquired a midsize educational software company in New York while it attempts to reel in a much bigger fish, telecom firm Tangoe Inc.
The Hermosa Beach-based investment fund bought NYSE Governance Services Inc. from Atlanta’s Intercontinental Exchange Inc. on June 1 for an undisclosed amount, Marlin said last week. The firm renamed the education and analytics software company True Office Learning, according to a company statement.
Marlin also said last week that it had extended the expiration date of the firm’s offer to acquire Tangoe, a global leader in telecom expense management (TEM), for $6.50 a share, according to a Securities Exchange Commission filing. That amounts to a potential acquisition valued at more than $240 million, based on outstanding shares not already owned by Marlin.
The firm said it had waived a financing proceeds condition in the deal, extending the offer’s expiration date from June 13 to June 15.
Marlin and Tangoe did not respond to a request for comment last week.
The investment fund, which has $6.7 billion under management, announced its plan in April to acquire Tangoe, of which it already owned about 10 percent.
Orange, Conn.-based Tangoe has been growing since it went public in mid-2011; however, the company started showing signs of financial trouble after missing earnings estimates in August 2015.
Nasdaq delisted Tangoe in March after it failed to meet reporting requirements.
A company announcement in January said that Tangoe had received two offers – one from Marlin for $7.50 a share as well as one from Santa Monica’s Clearlake Capital Group and Vector Capital in San Francisco for $7 a share.
Tangoe’s stock price closed at $6.42 on April 28 before the deal with Marlin was announced at a lower price.
“After careful consideration and deliberation, our Board of Directors concluded that the sale of Tangoe to Marlin was in the best interest of Tangoe and its shareholders,” Jerry Kokos, executive chairman of Tangoe, said in a statement. “Given its deep bench of operational resources and excellent track record of acquiring and growing businesses in the TEM market, Marlin is an ideal partner for Tangoe.”
Marlin said it hopes to merge Tangoe with one of its subsidiaries, Memphis, Tenn.-based Asentinel, which provides telecom expense management software services – ultimately creating an industry leader managing more than $38 billion in telecom and IT spending on behalf of 1,300 customers worldwide.
“We look forward to working closely with the Tangoe and Asentinel teams to develop world-class solutions and drive customer success,” said Peter Chung, a principal at Marlin.
Managing Partner David McGovern and Nick Kaiser co-founded the firm in 2005. It invests in companies in the software and technology, services, health care, and other industries that earn up to $2 billion in revenue.
It has closed eight private equity funds; in March, Marlin raised $2.5 billion of capital commitments across two of its funds, the firm said.
