Baird Capital exits Crisp Thinking to Kroll

Baird Capital, an affiliate of US-based investment bank RW Baird, invested GBP 19m for a minority stake in the social media monitoring group in 2018. The GP deployed equity via its debut Baird Capital Global Fund, which closed on USD 310m in 2017.

Since its investment, Baird Capital provided resources to Crisp including lending one of its operating partners to help build out their US infrastructure. It also supported the hiring of senior team members and the opening of Crisp’s Chicago office, said partner Andrew Ferguson.

“If you were looking for the one thing we were highly instrumental in, it was helping them expand in the US,” said Ferguson, noting that it many of its clients were US-based, despite the company being headquartered in the UK at the point of Baird’s initial investment.

Since then, annual recurring revenue has grown by more than 250%, and headcount has grown to more than 250 people, according to a statement.

While the concept of digital risk and intelligence was around three to four years ago, the issue has since been elevated to C-suite discussions as awareness of online risk – especially of digital chatter across the open, deep and dark web – grew, Ferguson said.

As the market opportunity grew, Baird Capital and the Crisp management saw the potential to extend its existing service lines beyond providing intelligence to Crisp’s clients, he said. Lazard was subsequently appointed to search for a strategic partner, targeting both private equity and trade buyers which have experience in the niche, he added.

Kroll fitted the bill nicely thanks to its expertise in risk consultancy work, Ferguson said, noting also its acquisition of risk intelligence software Resolver, highlighting its increasing attention to digital services capabilities.

Ferguson declined to disclose the value of the transaction. A one third interest in Crisp Thinking was estimated to be worth as much as GBP 100m, according to media reports. Baird’s plan to divest Crisp was first reported in October 2021.

Baird Capital is currently deploying equity via its USD 340m Global Fund II, which has the flexibility to invest in the UK, US and Asia across healthcare, technology and services, industrial technology and solutions.

It is in the early stages of exploring exits for its other portfolio companies, with one to two assets being considered for exit depending on market conditions, Ferguson said.

Company
Crisp Thinking Group is a provider of social media brand safety and crisis monitoring service to global brands. Its AI technology has been trained to discover and track the risk signals embedded within digital chatter to provide actionable risk intelligence. It currently provides its services to companies with a combined market capitalization of USD 6.5trn for over 1,000 brands

People
Baird Capital - Michael Holgate, Andrew Ferguson (partners).
Crisp Thinking - Andrew Burke (executive chairman)

Advisers
Vendor - Lazard (M&A); DWF (legal); LEK (commercial diligence); Grant Thornton (financial due diligence)

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• Topics
• Exits
• UK / Ireland
• Technology
• Trade sale
• United Kingdom
• Baird Capital Partners Europe Ltd