Veson Nautical Announces Significant Growth Investment from Francisco Partners

BOSTON, LONDON, and CHARLOTTE – Veson Nautical (“Veson” or the “Company”), the global leader in maritime freight software, today announced its entry into a definitive agreement for Francisco Partners to make a significant equity investment in the Company alongside existing investors, including Pamlico Capital and co-founder John Veson. Francisco Partners, a leading global investment firm with more than $30 billion in assets under management that specializes in partnering with technology businesses, is making its investment through its flagship private equity vehicle.

With over 18,000 users, Veson is the global market leader in developing, implementing, and supporting digital solutions that propel maritime commerce. Founded to transform the way the maritime world makes decisions, and driven by a commitment to continuous innovation, a spirit of collaboration, and an enduring focus on client success, Veson is the trusted partner to the world’s largest buyers and sellers of bulk marine freight as they navigate evolving business realities and seize new opportunities in a digital age.

The new investment from Francisco Partners and Veson’s existing investor, Pamlico Capital, will enable Veson to accelerate its organic growth initiatives and innovation across its product suite. Veson’s mission to be the standard platform that propels maritime commerce will be achieved through continued investment in products and workflows that optimize decision making and digitally connect industry participants. Building on the platform’s growth to date, the investment will also enable Veson to further pursue its targeted acquisition strategy following its recent acquisition of Oceanbolt, a market intelligence platform for the commodity and shipping industries.

John Veson, co-founder and CEO of Veson Nautical, said: “As industry participants seek to to optimize their marine operations, this investment underlines our commitment to developing innovative digital solutions that are built to reflect the realties of modern commercial shipping. Now, together with Francisco Partners and Pamlico Capital, we have even more opportunities to further our mission of harnessing the power of technology to transform the maritime shipping industry.”

Petri Oksanen, Partner at Francisco Partners, and Quentin Lathuille, Vice President at Francisco Partners, said: “John and the Veson team have done an exceptional job building a market leading, next generation technology platform to meet the rapidly evolving needs of today’s maritime shipping industry. We are thrilled to join forces with Pamlico Capital and John to support the continued expansion of the business as it executes on its vision to be the platform that propels maritime commerce.”

Eric Wilkins, Partner at Pamlico Capital, and Christiane Felts, Principal at Pamlico Capital, said: “As the leading maritime freight software platform, Veson is at the forefront of developing innovative solutions for the entire maritime shipping ecosystem. It has been our pleasure to partner with John and the Veson team over the last few years as they have scaled their integrated platform and product suite to best support the needs of owner-operators, commodity traders and tonnage charterers. We are excited to continue our partnership and look forward to working together with Francisco Partners and John to further support Veson’s mission.”

Veson and Pamlico Capital were represented by Raymond James & Associates and Harris Williams as financial advisors, and Alston & Bird LLP as legal advisor. DC Advisory served as Francisco Partners’ exclusive financial advisor, and Paul Hastings LLP and Kirkland & Ellis served as Francisco Partners’ legal advisors. Management was advised by Cooley LLP.

About Veson Nautical
Founded to transform the way the maritime world makes decisions, Veson is the global market leader in developing, implementing, and supporting the solutions that propel maritime commerce. Driven by a commitment to continual innovation, a spirit of collaboration, and an enduring focus on client success, Veson is a trusted partner to maritime operations as they navigate evolving business realities and new possibilities in a digital age. For more information please visit www.veson.com.

About Francisco Partners
Francisco Partners is a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology businesses. Since its launch over 20 years ago, Francisco Partners has invested in more than 400 technology companies, making it one of the most active and longstanding investors in the technology industry. With more than $30 billion in assets under management, the firm invests in opportunities where its deep sectoral knowledge and operational expertise can help companies realize their full potential. For more information please visit www.franciscopartners.com.

About Pamlico
Pamlico Capital is a private equity firm founded in 1988 that invests in growing middle market companies in North America. Pamlico Capital seeks control-oriented growth equity investments of up to $200 million alongside founders and proven leaders in its target industries: communications, healthcare, services, and software. The firm, based in Charlotte, NC, has assets under management of approximately $4 billion. For more information please visit www.pamlicocapital.com.