Warburg Pincus sees 6x return on Gordian sale after 6-year hold

Warburg Pincus stands to make more than 6x its money with the sale of Gordian after a six-year hold, according to a source.

Fortive Corp said July 2 that it agreed to buy Gordian, the Greenville, South Carolina, provider of construction-cost data, software and services, for about $775 million.

Fortive said it expected Gordian to produce revenue of about $130 million in 2018. Once the deal closes, expected in Q3, Gordian will become part of Fortive’s field-solution platform.

Warburg Pincus’s investment in Gordian dates to 2012. The PE firm acquired a majority of Gordian from Wicks Group of Cos.

How much Warburg invested is unclear; the firm used its 10th fund to buy Gordian.

Warburg’s 10th flagship, a 2007 vintage, raised $15 billion, its 11th fund closed on $11.2 billion in 2013, and its 12th pool weighed in at $13.4 billion in 2015.

Education Growth Partners also invested in Gordian, in 2015. Gordian used the funding to buy Sightlines that year, PitchBook said.

Whether Education Growth is exiting with the sale to Fortive is unclear.

Gordian is Warburg’s latest big exit.

In June, the New York firm sold FacilitySource to CBRE Group for $290 million. Warburg nearly quadrupled its investment in FacilitySource with the sale, Buyouts reported.

Last month, Warburg sold Slickdeals, an online coupon and deal-sharing company, to Goldman Sachs’s PE arm and Hearst Corp. The transaction, valued at more than $500 million, will generate a 7.2x return for Warburg, Bloomberg said.

Warburg has also been on an acquisition tear. Recent investments include Ant Financial, Reorg Research, Vivtera, IndiaFirst Life, Self Bank and Constructionline.

Education Growth and Fortive could not immediately be reached for comment.

Action Item: Call Gordian CEO William Pollak at +1 800-874-2291