Koch Equity Development (KED), which is part of Koch Industries, one of the largest privately-held businesses in America, announced on Nov. 16 that it will invest $2 billion in Infor, a provider of business applications.
“Infor’s demonstrated capability to help companies across a wide spectrum of industries automate and improve efficiency is relevant to our broad portfolio of invested companies and we look forward to exploring co-innovation opportunities,” said Brett Watson, senior managing director of KED.
The investment will provide Infor access to additional growth capital to accelerate innovation, expand distribution, and continue disrupting the enterprise applications industry.
According to Reuters, Charles Koch was personally involved in the decision to invest in Infor. Infor's chief executive Charles Phillips said in an interview that he visited Wichita, Kansas three times to discuss the investment with the billionaire.
"(Charles Koch) was looking to do more in technology and realizes he needs to transform his own companies," Phillips said, as reported by Reuters. "He's been looking for the right platform to help modernize his companies."
Koch Equity Development will be an active investor and will receive four board seats as part of the deal while the other five seats will go to the existing owners of Infor, Golden Gate Capital and Summit Partners, and Phillips, the CEO. The deal is expected to close in early 2017.
