Five V Capital Exits Totara

Five V Capital is proud to announce our second private equity exit for 2023: Totara Learning Solutions (Totara) has successfully been divested to Tenzing, a European technology investor. This marks a significant milestone for the business, and we are pleased to have supported the management team's ambition to build a global leader in learning management system (LMS)software.

Founded in New Zealand, Totara has emerged as a leading provider of highly configurable learning, engagement, and performance management software to enterprises worldwide. At the core of its offerings is the Totara Talent Experience Platform (TXP), an all-encompassing solution tailored to meet the mission critical learning and performance needs of workplaces. TXP supports an extensive user base of 20m individuals across 140 countries and has garnered the trust of some of the world’s largest corporations, including USDA, the NHS, Diageo, Sony, Toyota, and Amazon Alexa.

In June 2020, Five V acquired a majority interest in Totara, partnering with its founder, Richard Wyles to embark on the next stage of Totara’s growth. Since then, Totara has rapidly scaled, growing at a 30% CAGR, establishing itself as a globally recognised platform. This success has been supported by the contributions of an excellent global management team and the continuous investments in delivering to market an award-winning product portfolio. Today, Totara is operated by a team of over 100 professionals across offices spanning the UK (HQ), New Zealand, and the USA.

Now, in partnership with Tenzing, Totara is well positioned to continue its growth journey. Tenzing's investment will further support the business in its global expansion efforts, deepen its focus on target sectors, and contribute to the ongoing enhancement of Totara's product and service offerings, solidifying Totara’s position as a leader in the industry.

Richard Wyles, Founder of Totara, said: “This transaction marks a significant milestone for Totara. I take great pride in Totara's journey, as the company has transformed into a global corporation, tripling in size over the last few years. Partnering with the Five V team has been invaluable, their dedication, support, and insights have played a pivotal role in driving our growth. I extend my best wishes to Totara for continued success into the future. They are led by an outstanding team with promising prospects ahead."

Tim Cooper, Investment Lead at Five V Capital commented: "We are delighted to have partnered with Totara’s Founder, Richard Wyles, and to support the business’ success to date. Since our investment in 2020, Totara has undergone a remarkable transformation, emerging as a globally recognized brand underscored by a flagship product, multi-channel sales approach, and a carefully executed USA strategy. Totara’s growth and global expansion has been facilitated by a leading global management team, driving a landmark transition of the business’ headquarters from Wellington to the UK. We are proud of Totara’s achievements and are excited to see the business continue to flourish with Tenzing’s support.”

Mark Ash, CEO, stated: “At Totara, our mission is to enable our customers to create high-performance workplaces by transforming how organisations understand, measure, and improve talent development. With Tenzing's strategic investment, we're poised to scale our impact on the global stage, offering highly customisable solutions that drive innovation and growth for our clients. Together, we'll continue to shape the future of workplace learning and development, making it more personalised, effective, and accessible than ever before."

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Carl Lavin, Investment Lead at Tenzing, added: “We are hugely excited to partner with Mark, the Totara team and Totara’s partners to help the business reach the summit of its potential. We believe that Totara’s unique, highly configurable product offering, global footprint and ambitious management team provide the basis for strong growth in the coming years”.

Congratulations to the Totara management team. We look forward to Totara's future and its continued global expansion.

Thankyou to all parties supporting Totara with the transaction - AJ McDonald (Business advisor), Houlihan Lokey(M&A), PwC (Financial & Tax), DLA Piper (Legal), CTO Labs (Technology)

Five V Exit Team: Tim Cooper, Nikita Pandit, Matthew Coffey

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