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Supply chain risk specialist Veriforce acquires ComplyWorks

08/18/2020 By

Supply chain risk specialist Veriforce announced in a press release Tuesday the acquisition of ComplyWorks, a Canadian compliance management solution provider. The combined company will serve 800 companies in 120 countries with over 50,000 contractors to focus on risk mitigation practices. The acquisition was made in the hopes of creating the industry’s most comprehensive supply chain risk and compliance management solution.

Veriforce and ComplyWorks serve small, medium and large clients in many industries across the world. Together, the companies will work on third-party risk solutions and create a global platform of technology and services.

“We’re thrilled by what the acquisition of ComplyWorks adds to the Veriforce Network,” said Colby Lane, Veriforce’s CEO. “It’s a robust business–with a rich history, loyal customers, outstanding talent and an extensive global footprint – and will play a pivotal role in our go-forward strategy. Our combined company is now at the forefront of the industry in terms of customers served, global reach, breadth of solution and growth rate.”

Houston-based Veriforce has established itself as a leader in what it describes as comprehensive, integrated supply chain risk solutions with its software and domain experience. The company’s SaaS platform, data integrity and training programs drive safety and compliance for supply chains and workers. The company has focused on driving operational efficiency in the industry.

We’ve written about Veriforce before in an article about how the M&A landscape in procurement technology is changing.

ComplyWorks positions itself as having become a global leader for compliance management throughout its history. While it notes that it offers SaaS solutions that span the entire compliance lifecycle — contractor management, workforce management, worksite management and payment — Spend Matters has not been briefed on the solution itself.

“At a time when safety and risk management are top of mind for companies worldwide, we’re honored to join forces with Veriforce to provide the industry’s most comprehensive solution for managing risk,” said Cal Fairbanks, former president and CEO of ComplyWorks, who will now serve as strategic advisor to the combined company.

Veriforce formed through a merger with PEC in early 2019.

Jason Busch, Spend Matters’ founder and due diligence practice director, notes that Thoma Bravo, an investor in Veriforce, has a strong reputation in the sector as a private equity leader, especially in supply chain solutions, and has an established consolidation and scale playbook.

“Veriforce and ComplyWorks compete in the same market as Achilles, Avetta and ISNetworld, although each targets a diverse set of industries, geographies and use cases,” Busch noted. “Veriforce’s collective strength in the energy sector, with ComplyWorks, could help create scale advantages during a cyclical oil and gas downturn in which supply risk is increasing, not decreasing.”

“More broadly, this is the under-the-radar billion dollar market most people do not know about in the procurement tech/solutions industry. Veriforce and its peers have done a clever job pioneering recurring, often supplier-focused revenue streams based on network-centric business models that provide more than SaaS alone.”

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M&A News (Mergers & Acquisitions)