VSS divests Thomsons to Marsh & McLennan

Following the transaction, Thomsons will merge with Marsh & McLennan’s HR consultancy Mercer.

The sale marks a divestment for VSS Structured Capital II. Since VSS initially backed the company, Thomsons has invested in the development of its Darwin platform and looked to capitalise on the UK’s recently introduced pension auto-enrolment regulations.

The business has also undertaken an international expansion strategy, opening a US office in San Francisco in 2013.

Financial details of the deal remain undisclosed, though the business has increased its revenues from £27.4m to £30.7m, according to publicly available records, since the GP initially backed the £100m buyout of the firm in 2013. However, the firm generated an operating loss before tax of £911,000 in 2015 compared to a £1.8m operating profit in 2012.

According to unquote” data, Abry Partners, which also invested alongside VSS in the original deal, had already divested its stake in the company.

Previous funding
VSS invested alongside Abry in the £100m buyout of Thomsons in February 2013.

Company
Founded in 2000, London-headquartered Thomsons is a developer of HR software with a particular focus on employee benefits and pensions. Its service is available in 25 languages and across 80 countries, while its clients including Netapp, Virgin Money, Samsung and Priory Group. International sales now account for 14% of the company’s turnover.

People
VSS - Jeffrey Stevenson (managing partner); Patrick Turner (managing director).
Thomsons - Chris Bruce (managing Director, co-founder); Michael Whitfield (CEO, co-founder).
Mercer - Julio Portalatin (president, CEO); Jacques Goulet (president of health and wealth).

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