Electronic discovery company KLDiscovery says it has entered into an agreement to merge with Pivotal Acquisition Corp., a public investment vehicle, in a deal valued at $800 million that will result in KLD becoming a publicly listed company.
Headquartered in McLean, Va., KLD’s management team, led by CEO Chris Weiler and CFO Dawn Wilson, will continue to run KLD after the transaction, according to the announcement of the deal. Dan Akerson, former CEO of General Motors, will serve as chairman of Pivotal’s board of directors. Pivotal chairman and CEO Jonathan Ledecky will remain on the board as vice chairman.
KLDiscovery was formed after LDiscovery LLC, a company owned by investors The Carlyle Group, purchased Kroll Ontrack in 2016 in a $410 million all-cash transaction. Initially branded KrolLDiscovery after spinning off Ontrack as a separate data-recovery business, it was rebranded in 2018 as KLDiscovery.
Both The Carlyle Group and and another majority shareholder Revolution Growth will retain and roll over their shares.
According to KLD, customers for its cloud-based services and technology include 65% of Fortune 500 companies and 95% of the 100 largest U.S. law firms. It has 43 offices in 20 countries.
With approximately 54% annually recurring revenue, it projects approximately $310 million in revenue and 36% growth in adjusted EBITDA to $75 million for 2019.
