Grant Thornton NZ Advises On NZ$1.45b Tech Acquisition

Grant Thornton New Zealand has recently completed financial and tax due diligence on one of the biggest inbound NZ tech company acquisitions in recent years.

Bentley Systems, the Nasdaq listed infrastructure engineering software company (NASDAQ: BSY) has entered into an agreement with investors led by Accel-KKR to acquire Seequent Holdings Limited.

Bentley Systems is headquartered in Pennsylvania, USA and employs more than 4,000 people. The organisation generates annualized revenues of more than NZ$1.1 billion in 172 countries, and it’s expected that Seequent will contribute in excess of NZ$111m to its annualized recurring revenues this year.

The Grant Thornton team advising Bentley was led by tax Partner, Don MacKenzie and Richard Hughes, a Partner in the firm’s financial advisory services team, and included tax Director, Sam O’Connor and Rosaline Chan, Senior Manager, financial advisory services.

“Don, Richard and the team not only provided quality services, their delivery was highly responsive; this meant that due diligence was completed in record time which is fantastic given the size and complexity of the deal”, says Werner Andre, Vice President, Global Corporate Controller & Chief Accounting Officer at Bentley Systems.

Founded and based in Christchurch, Seequent is a globally renowned leader in geoscience analysis and modelling software and a classic Kiwi business success story, having grown from a team of one in 2004 to an organisation of over 430 people locally and overseas.

Bentley acquires Seequent from its majority shareholder, Accel-KKR. The transaction will likely be completed Q2 2021, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

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