William Blair acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Lightspeed Systems (Lightspeed) in connection with its strategic growth investment from Genstar Capital, joining existing investor Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP). The transaction signed on December 27 and closed on March 1. This transaction marks William Blair’s 27th education technology transaction in the last 18 months.
About the Companies
With over 20 years of providing technology to meet the needs of schools, Lightspeed is the market leader in online student safety and effectiveness. The purpose-built Lightspeed ecosystem of cloud-based solutions—tailored to meet today’s evolving challenges—provides schools worldwide with the most effective web filter, student safety monitor, classroom management software, device management tool, and analytics program available. Lightspeed is a proven partner for schools, serving over 20 million students in 39 countries and 32,000 schools globally.
Genstar Capital is a leading private equity firm that has been actively investing in high quality companies for over 30 years. Based in San Francisco, Genstar works in partnership with its management teams and its network of strategic advisors to transform its portfolio companies into industry-leading businesses. Genstar currently has approximately $33 billion of assets under management and targets investments focused on targeted segments of the software, financial services, industrials, and healthcare industries.
MDP is a leading private equity investment firm based in Chicago. Since MDP’s formation in 1992, the firm has raised aggregate capital of over $28 billion and has completed over 150 investments. MDP invests across five dedicated industry verticals, including basic industries; business and government software and services; financial and transaction services; health care; and telecom, media and technology services.
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