US leader in school safety software acquires UK leader in student safeguarding software
HOUSTON—Raptor Technologies ("Raptor"), the leading provider of school safety software to US schools, announced today its acquisition of CPOMS, the top provider of student safeguarding software to schools in the United Kingdom. The acquisition was made following strategic investments in Raptor by Thoma Bravo and existing investor JMI Equity. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
CPOMS safeguarding software provides a student wellbeing framework to help schools protect children from harm, including documenting incidents such as abuse, neglect, cyberbullying, negative social influences, and other incidents potentially representing a threat to student wellbeing. CPOMS streamlines the recording of these incidents, highlighting issues needing attention and helping all relevant stakeholders track interventions to ensure students achieve the best outcomes.
In connection with its acquisition of CPOMS, Raptor closed a new round of strategic financing led by Thoma Bravo, a leading software investment firm, with additional participation from existing investors JMI Equity and Ares Capital.
"School safety needs in the US and UK continue to evolve, with solutions for managing the wellbeing and safety of students being paramount," said Adam Solomon, a Principal at Thoma Bravo. "Through this investment and acquisition, we see tremendous potential for Raptor to extend its market leadership in K-12 school safety and its continued deployment of innovative solutions to schools in the US and UK."
"Combining CPOMS with Raptor creates a company with unique capabilities to help schools manage the safety and wellbeing of their students," said Bob Nye, General Partner at JMI Equity. "We're excited about this acquisition and the strategic opportunity ahead."
Gray Hall, CEO of Raptor Technologies, will lead the expanded organization. John Wild, current Managing Director of CPOMS, joins Raptor as Managing Director of UK Operations for Raptor and CPOMS.
"We are excited to add CPOMS best-in-class wellbeing products to Raptor's market-leading school safety product suite and to welcome the CPOMS team into the Raptor family," stated Gray Hall, CEO at Raptor Technologies. "Combining CPOMS software and domain expertise with Raptor further advances our mission to protect every child, every school, every day. We are eager to bring the proven capabilities of CPOMS to the US market and continue advancing CPOMS leadership position in the UK."
"Raptor was the perfect fit for CPOMS. Both companies have dedicated themselves to keeping schools and students safe and share very similar cultures," commented John Wild, Managing Director at CPOMS. "We at CPOMS are excited about joining the Raptor organization and look forward to the enhanced growth opportunities ahead."
About Raptor Technologies
Founded in 2002, Raptor has partnered with over 35,000 K-12 US schools to provide integrated visitor, volunteer, and emergency management software and services that cover the complete spectrum of school safety. To learn more about Raptor Technologies, visit www.raptortech.com.
About CPOMS
Hugely popular, CPOMS is an online system, used by over 14,000 schools across the globe to help school staff, across both primary and secondary education, log any concerns relating to the wellbeing of a pupil – whether pastoral, safeguarding or in relation to child protection. CPOMS was the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise winner. To learn more about CPOMS, visit www.cpoms.co.uk.
About JMI
JMI Equity is a growth equity firm focused on investing in leading software companies. Founded in 1992, JMI has invested in over 155 businesses in its target markets, successfully completed over 105 exits, and raised more than $6 billion of committed capital. JMI partners with exceptional management teams to help build their companies into industry leaders. For more information, visit www.jmi.com.
About Thoma Bravo
Thoma Bravo is one of the largest private equity firms in the world, with more than $83 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2021. The firm invests in growth-oriented, innovative companies operating in the software and technology sectors. Leveraging the firm's deep sector expertise and proven strategic and operational capabilities, Thoma Bravo collaborates with its portfolio companies to implement operating best practices, drive growth initiatives and make accretive acquisitions intended to accelerate revenue and earnings. Over the past 20 years, the firm has acquired more than 325 companies representing over $100 billion in enterprise value. The firm has offices in Chicago, Miami and San Francisco. For more information, visit www.thomabravo.com.
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