Case Study

Overview

• DiscoverOrg is a provider of Information Technology  department data to the sales and marketing departments of over 1,000 enterprise software, hardware, and IT services organizations primarily in North America.

• DiscoverOrg improves sales and marketing productivity by eliminating bad data and reducing the amount of time marketers and sales professionals spend on research.

• The company’s diverse customer base includes companies of all sizes from start-ups to large, multi-national organizations, including Accenture, Adobe Systems, Box, CA, Cisco, EMC, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Intuit, Microsoft, SAP, and VMware.

• As a result of its recurring revenue model, high customer retention rate and predominantly fixed cost structure, DiscoverOrg has achieved an impressive track record of growth and profitability.

Situation

• DiscoverOrg was founded in 2007 by co-founders Henry Schuck (CEO) and Kirk Brown (COO).

• Henry and Kirk had built a scalable business and were looking for a financial sponsor to support DiscoverOrg’s continued rapid growth.

• Cascadia was engaged to help DiscoverOrg find a partner to (i) provide partial liquidity for the co-founders and (ii) strengthen the Company’s market position by increasing domestic penetration, expanding internationally, developing new datasets and building out the management team.

Cascadia Process

• Cascadia ran a narrow process leveraging longstanding relationships with a handful of blue-chip private equity firms.

• Skillful positioning and a highly competitive process yielded multiple preemptive offers; Cascadia negotiated on DiscoverOrg’s behalf to optimize valuation and terms.

• TA Associates, a leading global growth private equity firm, was selected as the preferred partner and closed the transaction on an accelerated timeline.