Ridgemont Equity Partners, a middle market private equity firm, today announced the closing of an investment in Service Management Group (SMG), a global customer experience management technology platform based in Kansas City. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded by Andy Fromm and Bill Fromm in 1991, SMG provides customer experience, employee engagement and brand research software solutions and services to clients in the restaurant, retail, grocery, convenience, travel and entertainment, professional services and healthcare industries. The company collects consumer feedback data via more than 200 million surveys annually across location, online, contact center and social channels. Combining feedback and behavioral data, SMG uncovers customer and employee insights that help brands make improvements to increase loyalty and drive financial performance.
“Our partnership with Ridgemont marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for SMG,” said Andy Fromm, CEO of SMG. “Ridgemont brings more than twenty years of investment experience and shares our vision for helping brands create experiences that improve people’s lives. Together we will take on new growth initiatives while remaining committed to offering the best software platform and most actionable insights to our clients. Every decision we make is focused on long term partnerships that help drive our clients’ businesses. That’s what has made us successful. And that will never change.”
“SMG is the clear market leader in measuring and analyzing customer experience and employee engagement in restaurant and retail settings, which is mission-critical data for the company’s customers,” said Kurt Leedy, Principal at Ridgemont Equity Partners. “The company does an outstanding job serving its clients and has ample white space for future growth. We are excited to have SMG join the Ridgemont portfolio and look forward to partnering with SMG leadership to continue their growth and success.”
William Blair served as financial advisor and Husch Blackwell LLP served as legal counsel to SMG. Alston & Bird LLP served as legal counsel to Ridgemont.