Seequent and Murray & Co win M&A transaction of the year

CHRISTCHURCH, NZ, 23 May, 2019 - Seequent, a world leader in the development of 3D geological modelling and visual data science software, and New Zealand investment bank Murray & Co were named winners of the Chapman Tripp – M&A Transaction of the Year at the 2019 INFINZ Awards.

The INFINZ Awards, facilitated by the Institute of Finance Professionals in New Zealand Inc. (INFINZ), celebrate excellence in the financial and capital markets eco-system in New Zealand. The M&A Transaction award recognised Seequent’s growth equity investment agreement with Accel-KKR, a leading Silicon Valley technology focused private equity firm, and Seequent’s subsequent acquisition of Canadian geoscience software company Geosoft.

Shaun Maloney, Chief Executive of Seequent, says the company’s goal is to better equip their global customers as they work to address some of the world’s biggest earth, environment and energy challenges.

“2018 was a defining year for Seequent in terms of delivering on our global vision. With the support of longstanding shareholder Pencarrow Private Equity, who are a highly collaborative partner, we sought out an international investor with world leading networks and expertise. Accel-KKR’s investment and additional support allowed us to further drive our rapid global expansion with new market development and product innovation, and strengthened our acquisition position.”

Seequent acquired Geosoft in late 2018 to bring together its Leapfrog 3D geological modelling software suite with Geosoft’s subsurface geoscience and exploration data-driven technology, under Seequent.

Maloney says, “We’ve created an unparalleled subsurface offering for the mining, civil engineering, energy and environmental sectors that enables our collective customers to work seamlessly across the life cycle of their projects.”

The INFINZ Awards judges noted that ‘the back to back transactions were transformational for the company creating a global geoscience software enterprise supported by specialist investors in software and technology-enabled services businesses. These transactions were well planned and executed and each in their own right was amongst the largest NZ software M&A transactions ever implemented.’

Murray & Co acted as sole financial advisor to Seequent for its growth equity investment agreement with Accel-KKR and then for the subsequent acquisition of Geosoft, Inc.

“Seequent’s acquisition of Geosoft demonstrated Accel-KKR’s commitment to growing Seequent and is a great example of outbound M&A from New Zealand,” says Justin Murray, Murray & Co’s Executive Chairman.

Seequent’s strong growth over many years, and acquisitions such as QG, 3Point Science and most recently Geosoft, as well as, partnerships with companies such as IMDEX, have added substantial new capability and options to enter new market sectors. Seequent continues to grow as a global leader in geoscience analysis, modelling and communication, with an increasing array of geoscience solutions.

Maloney says "the current climate where companies face increasingly complex technical, socio-political and environmental challenges, Seequent’s focus is on accurately characterising the subsurface to give people and organisations a greater understanding for decision making.”
The 2019 INFINZ Award continues a run of awards recognition for Seequent. The company was named the Supreme Award winner at the 2018 New Zealand International Business Awards and ‘Export Innovator of the Year’ at the New Zealand Innovation Awards 2017.

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