Diligent Acquires BoardPad and Blueprint from ICSA: The Governance Institute
Transactions enhance Diligent’s global scale and expand offerings in governance, risk and compliance.
Diligent Corporation (“Diligent” or the “Company”), the leading provider of secure online collaboration and document sharing solutions for boards, committees and leadership teams, today announced the close of its acquisitions of BoardPad and Blueprint, both from ICSA: The Governance Institute, the UK-based professional body for governance. Terms of the two transactions for BoardPad and Blueprint – which closed on February 3 and February 15, 2017, respectively – were not disclosed.
BoardPad is one of the leading board collaboration software providers throughout EMEA and Australia across a variety of industries and sectors. BoardPad customers will quickly have access to Diligent’s award-winning customer service and a robust set of tools and services that the Company has developed in serving Fortune 1000 companies around the globe. By adding nearly 1,000 accounts to Diligent’s customer base, BoardPad meaningfully expands the Company’s global market reach across a broader range of industries and locations, strengthening its leadership position in the rapidly-growing board communication and collaboration space.
Brian Stafford, chief executive officer and president of Diligent, said, “BoardPad’s great product, scale in key verticals and established international presence made this transaction a strategic priority for us. Together, we will be able to provide an unmatched depth and breadth of world-class products to serve our clients even better than before.”
By acquiring Blueprint, the global leader in entity management solutions for corporate legal departments and general counsel, Diligent establishes an even stronger presence in the governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) market with Blueprint’s well-known brand and world-class solution. Blueprint will remain a standalone brand within the Diligent portfolio and all Diligent customers, including those on the Blueprint platform, will have access to Diligent’s full suite of offerings. Diligent plans to invest in Blueprint to drive additional innovation in the product, generating more value for customers and an even better experience for users to stay on top of their statutory details, compliance filings and reporting requirements for their business entities.
Mr. Stafford continued, “At Diligent, our core mission is to help Boards and leadership teams achieve new levels of performance by putting the right information, analytics and insights at their fingertips. Adding Blueprint will be central to our customers’ continued success and to the bright future of our business as the world’s only comprehensive board governance, risk management and compliance suite. Just as Diligent has become the leading solution for boards, with Blueprint, we have expanded our resources and customer base to drive the GRC industry forward and invest in innovative solutions. Together, these acquisitions will substantially accelerate Diligent’s momentum and enable us to serve customers both within and outside the boardroom.”
Simon Osborne, chief executive of ICSA, stated, “We are proud of the growth that BoardPad and Blueprint have achieved as part of ICSA. Thousands of organizations and teams around the world rely on BoardPad and Blueprint to provide the right solutions to help them make critical governance, compliance and risk management decisions. With its award-winning customer service and commitment to meeting customers’ ever-changing needs, Diligent is the best possible partner for BoardPad, Blueprint, and their customers. We are pleased to have found a good home for the businesses and look forward to the continued partnership we will form as part of this transaction.”
Mike Evans, CEO of ICSA Software International Limited and ICSA Boardroom Apps Limited, added, “Today marks an exciting new chapter for BoardPad and Blueprint. The Board of ICSA Software and ICSA Boardroom Apps are firmly aligned with Brian and the Diligent team on the vision for our businesses and our commitment to customers’ continued success. This is an exciting time for our customers as well, as the combined Diligent which will be even better equipped to bring more innovation to BoardPad’s and Blueprint’s products and the GRC market at large. I personally would like to thank the dedicated teams that have made BoardPad and Blueprint essential platforms for thousands of customers, and I am confident that our combined talent and product offerings will only continue to grow from here.”
District Capital Partners served as the financial advisor to Diligent. Moore Stephens LLP and Charles Russell Speechlys served as the financial and legal advisors to ICSA: The Governance Institute.
About Diligent
Diligent is a leading provider of secure corporate governance and collaboration solutions for boards and senior executives. Over 4,500 customers in more than 75 countries and on all seven continents rely on Diligent to provide secure, intuitive access to their most time-sensitive and confidential information, ultimately helping them make better decisions. The Diligent Boards (formerly Diligent Boardbooks) solution speeds and simplifies how board materials are produced, delivered and collaborated on via any device, removing the security concerns of doing this by courier, email and file sharing. Visit www.diligent.com or follow us on twitter @diligentHQ to learn more.
About ICSA: The Governance Institute
ICSA: The Governance Institute is the professional body for governance. We have members in all sectors and are required by our Royal Charter to lead ‘effective governance and efficient administration of commerce, industry and public affairs’. With over 125 years’ experience, we work with regulators and policy makers to champion high standards of governance and provide qualifications, training and guidance.
Website: www.icsa.org.uk
