“We were searching for companies that
took advantage of Australia’s multicultural
capabilities, and contacted Appen back in
2009,” Jeremy explains. “To cut a long
story short, we acquired a majority stake
from the founders and helped them
strengthen the management team, enabling
them to step back into non-executive
roles. Several years later, we helped make
a strategic acquisition in the US, which
focused on the related content market for
search engines and social media.”
The business continued to grow until
it was servicing eight of the 10 largest
technology companies in the world,
Jeremy says. “The founders have done
well, with the share price now 50 times
its value when we entered, and the
founders remain more than 10 per cent
shareholders. Chris Vonwiller is an
outstanding non-executive, and he and
Julie have time for their children and
grandchildren when they are not providing
helpful counsel to the CEO andmanagement team. It’s a wonderful
Australian success story, and we’ve been
fortunate to be involved in many of
these.” It’s been a privilege to help
entrepreneurs like the Vonwillers to
nurture and grow their businesses,
Jeremy explains. “I think many business
owners believe there are only two
alternatives. One is selling to a competitor
and the other is holding onto the business
forever. And many of them don’t want
to sell out 100 per cent, but they also
want to spend more time looking at
things beyond the business, to have
something to retire to. We provide that
middle-ground opportunity, to sell a
majority stake but keep some equity
to share in the future upside.”
Anacacia starts by investing through
its private equity fund and placing several
of its team on the company’s board to
support the CEO. Then it may look to list
the company, at which point it removes
its advisers from the board and becomes aHalf page advert
Thomson GearA LARGE AUSTRALIAN
CORPORATE LAW FIRM.
Thomson Geer
@ThomsonGeer
http://www.tglaw.com.auWe are focused on enhancing the competitive position of our clients
in whatever circumstances they find themselves in.
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INVEST | Interview