An affiliate of Koch Equity Development LLC, the investment and acquisition subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc., announced that it has agreed to acquire Transaction Network Services Inc. from affiliates of Siris Capital Group LLC and TNS’ other minority equity holders. TNS provides secure, mission critical connectivity and interoperability solutions via a global managed network enabling its customers to exchange data and information and transact worldwide.
“Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for TNS, our employees and our current and future customers.” said Mike Keegan, CEO of TNS. “As a result of this acquisition, we will be able to accelerate our mission of enabling our customers to focus on growing their businesses without worrying about the ever-increasing complexities associated with securely transmitting mission-critical, time sensitive transactional data. We have enjoyed a close partnership with Koch over the past five years, and this deal is a natural progression of those years of working together. As part of Koch, we will deliver more value to our customers faster with increased investment in new technologies and current and future services which is critical to our long-term growth strategy.”
“Our acquisition of TNS follows over five years of engagement with the company, not only as an investor, but as a customer as well,” said Brett Watson, president of Koch Equity Development. “We are excited to continue supporting the company in its next phase of growth and want to thank the outstanding team at Siris as we conclude our successful partnership.”
Matt Hewitt, director at Koch Equity Development added, “As the world continues to move to a more interoperable, connected future, we are excited about the innovative work TNS is doing to serve its customers around the globe. This is an exemplary team bringing truly differentiated solutions to the marketplace.”
“This transaction recognizes the TNS team’s effort and success executing against a strategic vision to generate profitable growth,” said Robert Aquilina, chairman of TNS and Siris executive partner. “My colleagues at Siris and I are proud to have been part of the journey, and we are confident the company is poised for long-term growth as part of Koch.”
Rothschild & Co. and Credit Suisse served as financial advisors to Koch, and Jones Day served as legal advisor to Koch. Evercore and Macquarie Capital served as financial advisors to TNS, and Sidley Austin LLP served as legal advisor to TNS.