Waud Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity firm, announced today it has partnered with Mark Layden to acquire companies and assets in the enterprise application software market.
This marks the second partnership between Waud Capital and Layden, having previously joined together to acquire and grow CyberGrants, where Layden served as CEO. Waud Capital will invest with Layden and co-investors.
Layden is a software executive with over 30 years of operating experience, with previous leadership roles at Bonterra, CyberGrants, Applied Systems, FICO, TempoSoft, SAP, and Campbell Software. And his experience ranges across software end markets, including financial services, risk management, corporate finance, and workforce management, and across enterprise size, from startup to large-cap private equity to publicly traded multinational, consistently delivering significant shareholder value.
Layden served as interim chief executive officer and chief strategy officer of Bonterra, a market-leading software platform for social good. The platform was created through the combination of CyberGrants, EveryAction, and Social Solutions in a deal valued at $2 billion. Before Bonterra, Layden served as CEO of CyberGrants, where he executed several initiatives to drive growth, including recruiting a leadership team, accelerating revenue growth, professionalizing operations, and enhancing its solution suite before leading a successful sale to Apax Partners.
KEY QUOTES:
“I’m delighted to be working together again with Waud Capital. Enterprise application software is a market and a business model we know well, and we have had great success together in the past. Waud Capital’s executive-led approach, growth-minded investment strategy and resource ecosystem of talented professionals give me confidence in our potential to build great businesses and replicate the success we had at CyberGrants. We believe we have the opportunity to create something special and I can’t wait to get started.”
– Mark Layden
“This partnership with Mark is another example of Waud Capital’s commitment to fostering long-term relationships with high-caliber executives. We have known Mark for over a decade, and we continue to be impressed by the outcomes he’s delivered throughout his career. From our shared experience at CyberGrants, we know the exceptional leadership he brings, and we look forward to working alongside him again in this next endeavor.”
– Matthew Clary, Partner at Waud Capital
“We are incredibly excited to renew our partnership with Mark. The enterprise application software market remains highly attractive, offering numerous areas in which to invest and many proven strategies to drive growth and create value. We believe Mark’s experience, playbook, and history of success make him the ideal partner to pursue this initiative and achieve a great outcome.”
– Paul Sutphin, Principal at Waud Capital
