Bazaarvoice Inc., a provider of product reviews and user-generated content services, has received a majority investment from Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, a private equity firm investing in growth companies. Marlin Equity Partners, the current majority investor in Bazaarvoice, will continue to be a material shareholder.
“Over the last year, Bazaarvoice has grown significantly by expanding its integrated solution portfolio in response to our customers’ increasing and growing need to leverage UGC at scale to drive revenue,” said Keith Nealon, CEO of Bazaarvoice. “Last year, we solidified our position as the only full-funnel platform by acquiring Curalate, a visual and social content offering that helps create product inspiration and allows consumers to make unexpected discoveries. In addition, we launched Network Insights to better help brands understand consumer sentiment trending and relative competitive performance based on feedback from their customers.”
“Shopping migration from offline to online channels is a trend that we expect to sustain for many years,” added Jeff Swenson, managing director at THL. “Consumers value the voices of other consumers in their shopping journeys, and Bazaarvoice offers marketers a mission-critical set of solutions to help acquire, curate and deliver UGC at scale to their customers. THL is excited to support Bazaarvoice in continuously growing and innovating its software and content offerings to help brands and retailers drive e-commerce revenue.”
UBS and Latham & Watkins acted as exclusive financial and legal advisors to Bazaarvoice. Barclays and Kirkland & Ellis acted as exclusive financial and legal advisors to THL. JP Morgan also acted as financial advisor to Marlin.