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RedPrairie, one of the industry's largest and most successful independent supply chain software providers, announced today it was being sold from its current private equity owners to a new one, New Mountain Capital, LLC.
The company had until now been owned by Francisco Parters, another private equity company, which purchased RedPrairie from a variety of owners in 2005.
With a nearly 5-year old investment, Francisco Partners was undoubtedly looking to cash out, and is doing so from a position of relative strength. RedPrairie has been able to manage the recession well compared to many other software providers, benefitting from a broad portfolio of productivity solutions and having a good portion of its business in the food and consumer packaged goods sectors, which have been less hard hit in the downturn than other industries. Many companies in these sectors have also recently redesigned their supply chain networks, requiring or adding new software solutions as part of that process, bolstering RedPrairie's results.
In late 2009, RedPrairie filed paperwork with the SEC as a first step to eventually going public. That document showed 2008 sales of just under $300 million, with an annual growth rate of 15%. As often happens, that initial IPO filing must have brought out some potential private buyers, with the sale to New Mountain Capital of course now ending RedPrairie's IPO process.
While a purchase price has not been released, it is lkely well in excess of the $240 million Francisco Parters paid for RedPrairie in 2005.
Alok Singh, Managing Director of New Mountain Capital,
states, "We are delighted at the prospect of being able to
add RedPrairie to our family of companies. They have
consistently, over their long history, been committed to
the success of their customers. We aim to work closely
with RedPrairie's management team and help them
accelerate their growth and strategic development,
making them an even more valued partner to their
customer base."
(Supply Chain Trends and Issues Article - Continued Below)
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Supply Chain Trends and Issues: Our Weekly Feature Article on Important Trends and Developments in Supply Chain Strategy, Research, Best Practices, Technology and Other Supply Chain and Logistics Issues 
RedPrairie was originally named McHugh Freeman & Associates when founded in 1975, and then later changed its name to McHugh Software International.
It was one of the pioneeers in the development of the Warehouse Management System (WMS) market in the 1990s, later acquiring or building solutions for Labor Management, Transportation Management
and other logistics applications. In 2002, the company changed its name to RedPrairie, and has since acquired a number of other companies, including BlueCube Software in 2006, a move that positioned it to provide solutions for the retail sector. 
