Serving Education and Training Markets Since 2006

Datatel acquired by Hellman & Friedman LLC and JMI Equity

Hellman & Friedman to acquire Datatel from Thoma Bravo and co-investors

FAIRFAX, Va. (BUSINESS WIRE), November 09, 2009 – Datatel, the industry’s most experienced provider of higher education software, services and insight, announced today that they reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by Hellman & Friedman LLC. Hellman & Friedman and its affiliates, co-investor JMI Equity, and Datatel management and employees will purchase the company from current investors Thoma Bravo and its co-investors in the transaction including Trident Capital, HarbourVest Partners and JP Morgan Asset Management. Hellman & Friedman is a leading private equity firm with a focus on investing in superior business franchises.

Following the higher education market’s strong positive reaction to Datatel’s new solutions in the areas of teaching and learning, recruiting, and mobility, Datatel President and CEO John Speer said, “Datatel’s new solutions, strong professional services, and exceptional client relationships coupled with our consistent performance are what attracted Hellman & Friedman to Datatel.”

Mr. Speer went on to say, “Datatel will continue to be led by our current executive and management teams and remains focused on delivering strong, compelling solutions for higher education.”

“We are delighted to be part of a company that has out-performed the market,” said David Tunnell, Managing Director of Hellman & Friedman.

Anupam Mishra, Director of Hellman & Friedman added, “We see our partnership as an opportunity to support Datatel’s continued success in helping colleges and universities meet their institutional goals.”

“Our partnership with Datatel has been an exceptional experience,” said Orlando Bravo, a Managing Partner of Thoma Bravo. “Together we have substantially increased the value of the company while expanding the solutions and services available to Datatel clients.”

About Datatel, Inc.

Datatel is the most experienced provider of technology products, services, and insight to higher education. Colleges, universities, and technical schools across North America partner with Datatel to build Strategic Academic Enterprises dedicated to achieving student success. The company has focused exclusively on higher education since 1979, and its technology is used by nearly 800 institutions serving more than five million students. For more information, visit www.datatel.com.

About Hellman & Friedman

Hellman & Friedman LLC is a leading private equity investment firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and London. Since its founding in 1984, Hellman & Friedman has raised over $25 billion of committed capital. The Firm focuses on investing in superior business franchises and serving as a value-added partner to management in select industries including business services, software and information services, internet/digital media, asset management, insurance, other specialty financial services, media, healthcare, energy and industrials. Representative investments in the software sector include Activant Solutions, Inc., Blackbaud, Inc., Intergraph Corporation, Iris Software Group Limited, Kronos Incorporated, SSP Holdings plc, and Vertafore Corporation. For more information on Hellman & Friedman, visit www.hf.com.

About Thoma Bravo, LLC

Thoma Bravo is a leading private equity investment firm that has been providing equity and strategic support to experienced management teams building growing companies for more than 28 years. The firm originated the concept of industry consolidation investing, which seeks to create value through the strategic use of acquisitions to accelerate business growth. Thoma Bravo applies its investment strategy across multiple industries with a particular focus on the software and services sectors. In the software industry, Thoma Bravo has completed 40 acquisitions across 13 platform companies with total annual earnings in excess of $600 million. For more information on Thoma Bravo, visit https://www.thomabravo.com/.

©2009 Datatel, Inc. All rights reserved. Datatel is a registered trademark of Datatel, Inc. All other names, products, and services mentioned are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Scroll to Top