Merger integrates wide-ranging network of safety and risk mitigation professionals, critical compliance solutions delivered on a modern SaaS platform, and industry-leading training services.
MANDEVILLE, LA., and HOUSTON, TEXAS – May 15, 2019 – PEC Safety and Veriforce, recognized leaders in delivering safety and compliance solutions to industrial markets, today announced that they have merged to create a new organization with a unified mission of reducing risk in hazardous work environments to help bring workers home safely each day. The combined company has the industry’s largest interconnected safety and compliance network comprised of 350 hiring clients, 25,000 contractor companies, 11,000 accredited safety trainers and authorized evaluators, 400 industry-standard training courses, and 1.5 million individual workers and will provide the most comprehensive and integrated risk management solution available.
PEC and Veriforce pioneered new standards in worker safety and competency, blazing new trails by blending modern technology and deep domain expertise to drive related operational effectiveness and efficiency. With more than four decades of leadership in developing solutions that assure safety standards and worker competency and qualification requirements are attained, the combined company is well-positioned to lead the rapidly growing, $14 billion market for supply chain risk management solutions.
Thoma Bravo, a leading private equity investment firm focused on software and technology-enabled services, acquired PEC Safety in December 2018 and helped deepen PEC’s core capabilities, expand into other verticals and broaden PEC’s software and content offerings.
PEC and Veriforce’s 350 combined hiring clients include leading companies across industry verticals including oil and gas, renewable energy, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, chemicals, construction, utilities, aggregates, environment services and transportation. These enterprises depend on PEC and Veriforce for assurance that their contractors and onsite workers are qualified and operate safely.
“What makes this merger uniquely impactful is that we’re bringing together two industry powerhouses that address risk at both the company and individual levels,” said Colby Lane, CEO of PEC. “Combined, we will be better able to execute on our mission to bring home workers safe, and together we will have a stronger offering to solve safety and compliance challenges for our customers.”
“This is a merger of two companies that are relentlessly focused on solving industry challenges in unique and innovative ways,” stated Louie Werderich, the newly appointed Vice Chairman of the combined company, who previously served as CEO of Veriforce. “We’ve developed the leading single-source compliance solution with employee-level verification that enables new levels of efficiency, accuracy, and effectiveness. It’s this approach that empowers our clients to outperform industry benchmarks for safety and compliance statistics consistently.”
The new company is led by CEO Colby Lane with Louie Werderich assuming the role of Vice Chairman. Co-headquarters for the combined organization remain in Mandeville, La. and Houston, Texas.
Greenridge Investment Partners, an Austin-based private equity firm, originally invested in Veriforce in 2014 and will remain a shareholder in the combined company.
About PEC
PEC Safety is an industry leading, risk-management company that provides a technology-enabled contractor management service for reporting and measuring contractor risk, safety and compliance information to owner clients (operators). Over 125 owner clients manage over 15,000 contractors in PEC’s total contractor management solution. PEC also develops and offers standardized safety learning programs for workers in high-risk industries. Over 2 million workers have been trained with PEC programs by a network of 3000+ PEC Authorized Instructors.
About Veriforce
Veriforce® is relied upon by leading organizations for the key solutions required to enhance safety for their workforce and the communities they serve. Veriforce solutions combine VeriSourceTM, its integrated software to manage Operator Qualification, Drug & Alcohol, Safety, and Certificate of Insurance Tracking programs, with value-added audit and consulting services and complementary training offerings. Using Veriforce solutions, organizations are able to centralize and streamline critical compliance processes, more efficiently manage their contractor workforce, more effectively mitigate regulatory and supply chain risk, as well as drive ongoing improvement to safety. Headquartered in the greater Houston area, Veriforce serves as a trusted partner to over 225 top companies and their network of more than 11,000 contractors, suppliers, and vendors.
About Thoma Bravo
Thoma Bravo is a leading private equity firm focused on the software and technology-enabled services sectors. With a series of funds representing more than $30 billion in capital commitments, Thoma Bravo partners with a company’s management team to implement operating best practices, invest in growth initiatives and make accretive acquisitions intended to accelerate revenue and earnings, with the goal of increasing the value of the business. Representative past and present portfolio companies include industry leaders such as ABC Financial, Blue Coat Systems, Deltek, Digital Insight, Frontline Education, Global Healthcare Exchange, Hyland Software, Imprivata, iPipeline, PowerPlan, Qlik, Riverbed, SailPoint, SolarWinds, SonicWall, Sparta Systems, TravelClick and Veracode. The firm has offices in San Francisco and Chicago. For more information, visit thomabravo.com.