Apax Considering Sale of Epicor

For the second time in two years, Apax Partners, a London-based private equity firm, is considering selling Epicor Software, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Epicor Chief Executive Joe Cowan said the interest from private-equity buyers is "no surprise' given the company’s "strong performance and market leadership."

"We’ll consider those expressions of interest,' Mr. Cowan said in an email, the WSJ reported. "As we do so, we’ll be guided by what makes the most sense for the company and our customers."

Apax bought the company for about $1.04 billion in 2011 and later merged it with rival Activant Solutions Inc.

Apax put Epicor on the block in 2014 but ultimately chose not to sell, turning down offers it deemed too low from bidders including CVC Capital Partners, the Wall Street Journal said at the time. Some bids were around $3 billion including debt, the WSJ reported.

Epicor’s software assists businesses with sales and supply-chain management. It is one of the leading technology providers for distributors and says on its web site that more than 7,000 distributors use its software.

STAFDA Offering New Video Training Tools

The Specialty Tools and Fasteners Distributors Association (STAFDA) and Waypoint Analytics have recently partnered to offer their top 45 online video training tools for member use.

Unlike TED clips or time-consuming online training tools, these are short videos averaging 5-15 minutes in length which hone-in on key supply chain education: profit margin, strategies, leadership, cost-to-serve modeling and a host of other business-focused topics. They also have blogs. The video clips are led by industry experts such as Bruce Merrifield, Brent Grover, Dirk Beveridge, Randy MacLean and others.

Visit http://stafda.distributioneducation.org to access high quality, online education for your company.