Equity Firm Merges Quadrant and Softbase, Eyes Further IBM i Acquisitions

September 4, 2012 Alex Woodie

Candescent Partners last month announced that it has merged two of its holdings, Quadrant Software and Softbase, into a single entity. The move will pave the way for Quadrant, the parent company, to make further acquisitions in the IBM i and z/OS software market.

Candescent acquired IBM i document automation software vendor Quadrant Software nearly two years ago in a deal that also saw the spin-off of Quadrant’s content management and workflow product line, called IntelliChief, into its own company, leaving Quadrant with the FastFax and Formtastic products. Candescent then acquired Softbase, a provider of z/OS coding, testing, and deployment tools, in October 2011, and put Quadrant CEO Steve Woodard in charge of both companies.

Stephen Jenks, managing partner of Candescent Partners, explains the decision to formally merge both entities under Quadrant. “The merger of Quadrant and Softbase provides a greater breadth of resources, market reach, channel options and, in particular, it expands the opportunity for the company to make further acquisitions in the IBM iSeries and DB2 markets and add additional offerings for customers who rely on these platforms,” Jenks says in a press release.

Candescent, which is based, like Quadrant, in the Boston, Massachusetts, area, says it focuses its acquisition efforts on “lower middle market companies” in various industries with gross earnings between $2 and $8 million and enterprise values between $10 and $75 million. There are many dozens, if not hundreds, of IBM i software vendors who match that description.

It’s unclear if the merger will have a big impact on Woodard’s workload or travel. The CEO lives in the Boston area, and visited Softbase headquarters in Asheville, North Carolina, on a regular basis. Softbase will continue to function as a division of Quadrant, so his trips to Asheville will likely continue.

Candescent says that Silicon Valley Bank provided a term loan to recapitalize the combined companies as part of the merger.