Following our initial investment in March 2023, we are delighted to announce that we have supported Cezanne HR (Cezanne) to complete the acquisition of recruitment technology business, Occupop.
Cezanne provides HR and Payroll software for growing businesses across the UK and internationally, helping clients to automate and streamline every aspect of HR and Payroll processes; provide better insights; improve employee engagement and reduce data administration.
The business has acquired Dublin-headquartered recruitment technology business, Occupop – well-regarded for its innovative and sophisticated platform, which provides seamless end-to-end solutions for attracting, managing and retaining talent. The deal, which represents Cezanne’s first strategic acquisition, forms part of the firm’s wider growth plan – to provide best-in-class products for its customer base; employ high quality talent; and expand into additional markets. Occupop’s technology will be integrated into the Cezanne platform, resulting in an enhanced offering for both Cezanne and Occupop clients, and will support the firm to expand into the Irish market. Co-founders Caroline Gleeson and David Banaghan will join the Cezanne management team to support the continued growth of the combined business.
The acquisition follows a hugely successful 2024, which has seen Cezanne deliver strong organic growth as a result of its customer-first approach, product development, the launch of its in-house payroll platform and significant investment in the team – which included the promotion of Simon Noble to CEO.
Simon Noble, CEO of Cezanne said: “Being a part of the NorthEdge community over the last two years has been fantastic. The support we have received has been invaluable, with the acquisition of Occupop being the latest example of NorthEdge working closely alongside us and enabling us to accelerate growth.
“The combination of Cezanne and Occupop is hugely powerful and very exciting for all of our people and our clients – particularly as customers continue to focus on platforms that provide a comprehensive and high-quality suite of HR solutions. I’m really looking forward to working with Caroline, David and the wider team to deliver on our collective vision of building the most loved and trusted HR & Payroll platform in the market.”
Dan Matkin, Director at NorthEdge said: “We are delighted to have supported Cezanne to complete its first acquisition. Occupop enhances the Cezanne offering through bringing additional product, people and scale – all key components of the value creation plan.
“We’re always looking for ways to support the ambitious management teams we work with to accelerate growth. Cezanne has gone from strength to strength since joining our portfolio and we’re excited to continue supporting the team and the business to realise their potential.”
This deal builds on our track record of investing in high quality technology businesses and accelerating growth through M&A. In the last couple of years, we have continued to build on our strong technology track record, completing four platform investments and three exits in the sector; alongside supporting our technology portfolio to complete nine acquisitions.
The deal was funded by NorthEdge and Santander.
Occupop were advised by Charnwood (Corporate Finance); Philip Lee (Legals) and HPCS (Tax).
NorthEdge and Cezanne HR were advised by BDO (FDD and Tax); DWF (Legals); KPMG (Tax) and ReThought Solutions (Technology DD).