Brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, firms are looking for better ways to solve the complexities of delivering their goods to consumers amid a myriad of supply chain issues. Gryphon Investors looks to invest in enterprise resource planning to help.
Gryphon Investors, a middle-market private equity firm, has acquired Rootstock Software, a provider of cloud-based enterprise resource planning software for manufacturing, distribution and supply chain organizations within the Salesforce platform.
“Manufacturers and distributors have struggled for years with the lack of modern software options available to help them run their businesses,” Jon Cheek, Gryphon’s deal partner and head of the firm’s software group tells Mergers & Acquisitions. “The pandemic has highlighted a need for improved features and functions to tackle newly appreciated supply chain considerations as well as complexities associated with increasingly remote workforces, but the underlying evolution from legacy software to modern, cloud-native ERP systems is only just beginning.”
Dealmakers are looking for value add-on investments to increase transparency for all constituents in the manufacturing and distribution lifecycle. ERP acts as the ‘central nervous system’ for manufacturing and distribution operations, providing firms with the data and tools required to deliver a visible and reliable service to customers.
“The transition to more modern ERP software is still early in its evolution,” Cheek adds. “We believe the penetration of cutting-edge technology into this market will unfold over many years, with the pandemic simply serving as a catalyst to accelerate the adoption of more innovative ERP platforms by manufacturers and distributors.”
Looking to the future, Cheeks sees no signs of ERP investment slowing down. So keep in mind that when supermarkets are fully stocked, it may not be solely because the pandemic is behind us, but because firms are investing in much-needed new technology.
-Cole Lipsky
