Great Hill makes more than 10x on sale of Credibility Corp

The price tag is $320 million, but Great Hill could get an additional earn-out of up to $30 million if Credibility Corp meets certain milestones by 2018.

Great Hill tapped its $1.1 billion Great Hill Equity Partners IV fund to purchase the company in a carve-out deal from Dun & Bradstreet in 2010.

“It was an under-managed corporate orphan,” a source said.

Great Hill brought in Jeff Stibel to run the company as CEO and grew revenue by about 200 percent and EBITDA by about 300 percent during its ownership, the source said.

As part of the sale to Dun & Bradstreet, Stibel assumed the title of vice chairman of D&B when the deal closed on May 12.

Credibility Corp, which provides credit and credibility management solutions, was sold in a direct deal between the two parties, with no auction or investment banker involved, according to the source.

Great Hill’s managing partners are Christopher Gaffney, John Hayes, Michael Kumin, Mark Taber and Matthew Vettel, according to its website. The firm typically invests $30 million to $150 million per deal.

The firm’s most recent buyout pool, Great Hill Equity Partners V, disclosed $955 million in commitments as of Dec. 3, according to a filing.