Accordion, a private equity-focused financial consulting and technology firm, announced that it has received a significant minority investment from FFL Partners, a private equity firm focused on growth investments in middle market companies. The investment will be used to expand Accordion’s service offerings for private equity-backed CFOs and their finance teams, attract and acquire additional talent, spur continued geographic expansion, and support the ongoing development of Accordion’s portfolio operations SaaS platform.
Since its founding in 2009, Accordion has become the go-to consulting and technology partner for value creation in the private equity community. Accordion is the only firm focused exclusively within the office of the CFO at private equity-backed companies. As such, its consultants work alongside fund sponsors and their portfolio management teams to design, execute, and support initiatives across the entire finance function, including strategic financial planning and analysis, operational and technical accounting, transaction execution, and a recently launched performance improvement offering.
“We’re immensely proud of the brand we’ve built, which starts and ends with our team of roll-up-their-sleeve experts who blend strategic thinking with technical skills,” said Nick Leopard, CEO and Founder of Accordion. “But, we also recognize the growing opportunity presented by a maturing and competitive private equity industry that now embraces the role of value creation in a successful investment strategy. FFL’s partnership will help us execute our vision to shape a new era in private equity and seize on the tremendous market opportunity in front of us.”
FFL’s growth investment will support Accordion’s management team in realizing the company’s near and long-terms expansion plans, while also offering liquidity to early firm investors.
“As an Accordion client, we’ve had a first-hand view of the company’s ability to drive value for portfolio companies of all sizes and in all sectors,” said Cas Schneller, Partner at FFL. “As we worked alongside Accordion, with their unique, laser focus on the office of the CFO, we saw the growth potential in the business itself. We also realized Accordion’s transformative promise for the private equity industry, more broadly. We’re excited by the opportunity to accelerate that growth and the industry’s development.”
Accordion will use the FFL investment, in part, to further accelerate the pace of talent acquisition. Over the past year and a half, Accordion has made significant investments at the Managing Director level, hiring former operating partners and executives who strengthen the firm’s expertise in carve-outs, merger integration, and performance improvement, among other offerings. The ongoing addition of talented executives and teams will enhance Accordion’s ability to support a growing portfolio of over 150 fund sponsors and their portfolio companies.
To better serve that client portfolio, Accordion will continue to expand the company’s geographic footprint across the U.S. and into Europe. The company recently opened offices in San Francisco and Boston, and maintains its headquarters in New York.
Finally, funding will also be earmarked to support Accordion’s in-development SaaS platform, which leverages the firm’s expertise to help institutionalize a private equity firm’s approach to portfolio operations.
Continued Leopard, “There’s nothing more telling then when a client turns into an investor. We’ve had the opportunity to come to know FFL through engagements with FFL-backed companies, and have developed a mutual respect between our teams, and for each other’s cultures. We not only share a great working relationship, but we now share a vision for Accordion to become the premiere value creation partner for all fund sponsors and their portfolio companies.”