- The sale will accelerate Farthest Gate’s “Government-as-a-Platform” strategy, bringing government workflows online and into the digital age.
- The deal highlights strong appetite for digital transformation software businesses, including in the wider GovTech sector which is ripe for investment and consolidation.
Solano Partners, a next-generation boutique investment bank that works exclusively with innovative technology businesses, announces the sale of Farthest Gate, a leading software platform for public sector services, to private-equity-backed StarTraq, a leading compliance software business focussed on the police and local authority market.
The deal will provide a larger platform and significant investment for Farthest Gate to capitalise on its ‘Government-as-a-Platform’ strategy and continue to digitise public sector processes with its cloud-based regulatory services software.
Farthest Gate is unique in the UK GovTech market, as the only provider delivering true end-to-end automation and digital solutions for public facing government services. The company has the most comprehensive and dynamic platform on the market and will revolutionize the way citizens and businesses interact with government departments.
With the public sector undergoing significant disruptions in recent years, as the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted, there is an urgent need for more efficient, accessible online services. By 2025, the UK GovTech sector is forecast to be worth an estimated £20bn by 2025, with the global market already worth £350bn, and Farthest Gate is at the forefront of this revolution.
Solano Partners was the exclusive financial advisor to Farthest Gate on the transaction.
Peter Spanos, CEO of Farthest Gate, commented: “Farthest Gate was committed to finding a strategic partner who could grow our product range and client base, whilst helping us diversify into new markets. The deal was delivered by Solano Partners, who advised us on the transaction and introduced StarTraq as one of our potential suitors. StarTraq was the standout proposition from the offset, sharing our vision of how public sector services should be delivered. The deal creates a leading compliance software group that seeks to digitise processes across government and enterprises internationally.”
Jon Edirmanasinghe, founder of Solano Partners, commented: “We are delighted to have advised Farthest Gate on its sale to StarTraq, in a transaction that allows Farthest Gate to capitalise on its leading position in the fast-growing GovTech software market.
Public services lag behind non-government sectors in the pace of digital change and Farthest Gate’s success and eventual deal is representative of a powerful move to propel government services online and into the digital age. We are seeing strong appetite for credible software businesses, from both private equity and international strategics, including the GovTech space given its high levels of digital transformation. Valuations are at attractive levels and the sector’s growth is accelerating which we expect to drive future deal flow.”
The Solano Partners team was led by Jon Edirmanasinghe and Steph Frayne, with support from Jin Hyung Cho.
Mickey Patel, Partner at August Equity, commented: “This acquisition is an acceleration of our original thesis to create an international compliance cloud software business of scale and significantly expands the groups addressable market. We are delighted to be working with the Farthest Gate team.”
