M&A  May 18, 2022

Louisville’s Alchemer receives majority investment, to implement employee ownership

LOUISVILLE — KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR) a global investment firm based in New York, has made a majority investment in Louisville-based Alchemer LLC. Along with the ownership investment, Alchemer will make employees of the company owners alongside KKR.

Alchemer is a provider of customer experience and voice-of-the-customer software. The investment will be used by Alchemer to accelerate its growth “through marketing, product innovation, industry partnerships and strategic mergers and acquisitions,” according to a press statement. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Alchemer was founded in 2006. Its software helps businesses collect, analyze and leverage customer and employee feedback to drive engagement, retention and user experiences. Alchemer has more than 13,000 global customers, including a large number of Fortune 500 companies, the press statement said.

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“We are very excited to have KKR as an investor in Alchemer. We believe this transaction will benefit our customers and employees by accelerating our investment in experience management,” David Roberts, CEO of Alchemer, said in a written statement. “KKR shares our vision for the CX industry’s role in translating customer feedback into action, and having access to KKR’s expertise, capital and resources will put Alchemer in an even better position to deliver on this critical mission.” 

“Alchemer has built a differentiated, best-in-class platform that is helping companies form deeper and more meaningful relationships with their customers and other stakeholders,” said John Park, head of Americas Software Private Equity at KKR. “Demand for user experience solutions is growing as companies increasingly prioritize customer and employee engagement. We believe Alchemer has the right model and team to serve this growing need and look forward to supporting its continued innovation and growth.”  

The transaction means that Alchemer will implement KKR’s employee-ownership program, which will make all employees owners of the company alongside KKR. 

“This strategy is based on the belief that employee engagement is a key driver in building stronger companies. Since 2011, KKR has awarded billions of dollars of total equity value to more than 45,000 non-management employees across more than 25 companies,” KKR said in a statement. “Last month, KKR joined more than 60 organizations in becoming a founding partner of Ownership Works, a nonprofit created to support public and private companies transitioning to shared ownership models.”

William Blair served as financial adviser and Perkins Coie served as legal counsel to Alchemer. Jefferies LLC served as financial adviser and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal counsel to KKR.

LOUISVILLE — KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR) a global investment firm based in New York, has made a majority investment in Louisville-based Alchemer LLC. Along with the ownership investment, Alchemer will make employees of the company owners alongside KKR.

Alchemer is a provider of customer experience and voice-of-the-customer software. The investment will be used by Alchemer to accelerate its growth “through marketing, product innovation, industry partnerships and strategic mergers and acquisitions,” according to a press statement. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

Alchemer was founded in 2006. Its software helps businesses collect, analyze and leverage customer and employee feedback to drive engagement,…

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