In October 2021, Riverside Australia Fund III completed the acquisition of Energy Exemplar, the leading integrated electric power/water/gas simulation software solutions provider with a global customer base.
The diverse capabilities of the Exemplar’s platforms serve a wide range of clients, including generation companies, electricity and gas market operators, energy commission and regulators, energy traders, price forecasting agencies, power plant manufacturers, and power plant construction companies.
The company’s primary goal is to offer the most advanced simulation software solutions to its uses, while continuing to demonstrate a strong a track record by being first-to-market with innovations in mathematical optimisation-based ‘system of systems’ simulations.
In November 2023, Riverside Australia Fund III (RAF III) announced the 100% sale of Energy Examplar by way of a secondary sale to global private equity firms Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners for a media reported $1.6 billion, making it one of Australia’s largest M&A transactions of 2023.
Under the stewardship of RAF III, Energy Exemplar experienced substantial growth from around 70 employees and $20 million in revenue, to over 600 employees and a revenue of over $150 million. Energy Exemplar’s solutions now offer best-in-class functionality, allowing users to model and understand the increasingly complex energy transition landscape in a single unified platform. Across RAF III’s ownership the platform has grown at 30% CAGR and currently serves over 500 customers in 79 countries.
As the company sought an optimal financial sponsor to propel it to the next stage of development, Energy Exemplar’s exit stands as a significant milestone as the first exit from the portfolios RAF III and VPEG4. Not only does it place the company among Australia’s largest M&A transactions, but it also represents a noteworthy triumph for VPEG4 investee Riverside Australia.
Completion of the exit will occur on final approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), anticipated to occur during March 2024.
Once completed, the exit will deliver RAF III and VPEG4 with a strong top quartile return across a 2.1 year investment hold period, with a distribution anticipated to be paid to VPEG4 investors following the receipt of the net sale proceeds by VPEG4 from RAF III.
