GroupCast/SchoolReach

INDUSTRIES:
Education

DESCRIPTION:  
An award-winning provider of school notification systems and mobile apps for schools

Transaction Description

In November of 2014 West Corporation (NASDAQ:WSTC) announced the acquisition of assets from GroupCast, LLC, which consisted primarily of the GroupCast and SchoolReach businesses, providing alert and notification services for K-12 school districts, corporations, and government entities. The purchase price was approximately $13.5 million and was funded with cash on hand. SchoolReach will be combined with West’s SchoolMessenger business in the Unified Communication operating segment.

Cherry Tree’s Role

Cherry Tree was retained by GroupCast to advise the owners on their strategic alternatives, as one of their founding partners sought to retire, and the remaining partners sought to strengthen their strategic position in their industry, while maintaining the company’s values. Cherry Tree advised the company through all aspects of the process including introductions to numerous parties including West, soliciting proposals, negotiating the terms of the transaction, supporting the due diligence process, and facilitating the closing of the transaction.

About GroupCast, LLC

Thousands of organizations across every U.S. state trust their most important communications to GroupCast and SchoolReach. A wide variety of organizations use GroupCast and SchoolReach to broadcast time sensitive voice, email and text messages regarding emergency alerts, school closing announcements, product recall notifications, appointment reminders, and phone surveys. An award-winning provider of school notification systems and mobile apps for schools, SchoolReach is an industry leader in the field of school-to-home communications. For more information on the communications solutions offered by GroupCast, please visit www.groupcast.com or www.schoolreach.com.

About West Corporation

West Corporation is a global provider of communication and network infrastructure solutions. West helps manage or support essential enterprise communications with services that include conferencing and collaboration, public safety services, IP communications, interactive services such as automated notifications, large-scale agent services and telecom services. For over 25 years, West has provided reliable, high-quality, voice and data services. West serves clients in a variety of industries including telecommunications, retail, financial services, public safety, technology and healthcare. West has a global organization with sales and operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Latin America. For more information on West Corporation, please call 1-800-841-9000 or visit www.west.com.

About Cherry Tree & Associates

Cherry Tree & Associates is a private investment banking firm headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1980, it specializes in M&A transactions for both buyers and sellers of middle market companies. Additionally, it conducts private placements for attractive, entrepreneurially managed growth companies, provides strategic advisory services to CEOs and boards of directors, and prepares fairness opinions and other valuation services. For more information, visit Cherry Tree & Associates.