Riverside Europe exits Brookson to PE-backed People2.0

Wahida Ahmed
22 June 2022

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Riverside has sold UK-based Brookson, a cloud-based SaaS platform for freelancers and their hirers, to TPG-backed US-based People2.0, a flexible work arrangement company.

Riverside acquired Brookson in November 2014. Under its ownership, the company completed several bolt-ons to expand products and services and to grow within its existing market, including 1st Group in 2017, an accountancy business, and InTouch Accounting in 2018, specialist contractor and freelancer accountants.

Riverside is currently deploying equity via Riverside Europe Fund VI, which held a final close in March 2021 on EUR 465m. The vehicle invests in European companies with enterprise values in the range of EUR 50m-EUR 300m and EBITDA of EUR 5m-EUR 30m, deploying equity tickets of EUR 50m-EUR 150m. It will pursue a buy-and-build strategy with the view of creating consolidation platforms across Europe, according to Unquote Data.

People2.0 is an international staffing platform providing a global employer of record (EOR) and global agent of record (AOR) database. TPG backed the company in February 2021, according to a press release. The workforce-deployment platform has made a string of bolt-ons including Abu Dhabi-based Back of the House, a provider of EOR and AOR, in March 2022 and US-based TalentWave, a workforce management provider, in June 2021.

Company
Brookson is based in Warrington and was founded in 1998. The company caters to freelancers and their employers working across a wide range of industries, such as engineering, healthcare, IT, and finance, among other professional services. Brookson Connect is a cloud-based compliance and service SaaS workforce management platform for the entire freelancer supply chain. The company employs around 299 staff, according to LinkedIn.

People
Riverside Europe – Karsten Langer (managing partner).
People2.0 – Erik Vonk (executive chairman).
Brookson Group – Andrew Fahey (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – Houlihan Lokey (M&A); Jones Day (legal).