Mazars advises Relate Software on merger with BrightPay

Relate Software was formed in 2002 and has been building innovative software for the accountancy profession for over 25 years. Its offering includes the Surf products, a modern, cloud-native suite of bookkeeping, post-accounting, and practice management software to accountancy bureaus and SMEs in the Republic of Ireland.

BrightPay is a modern payroll and HR software for accounting and payroll bureaus and SMEs. It takes care of every aspect of running your payroll, from entering employee and payment details to creating payslips and sending RTI submissions. BrightPay is also known as Thesaurus Software, a company with over twenty years of industry experience in the UK and Ireland.

Ray Rogers, founder and CEO of Relate, said: “Combining products from both businesses will provide a compelling offering for our customers, with the scope and backing for further innovation and development. I’m looking forward to working with Paul and am also excited to welcome Hg, a leading software investor with a track record of supporting growth in Irish software businesses. We would like to thank Mazars Corporate Finance for their advice on the transaction. They guided us through the entire process, and their professionalism and expertise were invaluable to us as we navigated the different stages of the transaction”.

Paul Byrne, founder and CEO of BrightPay, said: “We are delighted to be joining with Ray and his team at Relate. They have a proven track record in a sector we know well and, together, we will aim to be a leading solution for many businesses and accountancy firms. We are also delighted that Hg continues to support us. Their deep sector knowledge has proven invaluable to us and will be instrumental in fuelling the further growth of BrightPay/Relate.”

John Bowe, Mazars Partner, Deals – M&A, said that “this merger is a fantastic deal which brings together two leading Irish software companies, Relate Software and BrightPay, with the backing of Hg Capital. Both businesses provide a complementary product suite of integrated cloud payroll and accounting practice software to a similar customer base.  It will strengthen their already impressive position in the market. Mazars were delighted to provide deal advisory services on this transaction and look forward to seeing the combined group, under the leadership of Ray and Paul, continuing its growth and becoming Ireland’s next leading software company”.

Jonathan Boyes, Hector Guinness and Thomas Martin at Hg said: “Both BrightPay and Relate are very highly regarded businesses and champions in their field. The two companies bring together core operational strengths whilst also unlocking a high-quality, complementary suite of products to a newly combined customer base. We’re proud to bring together this new, highly accomplished team. This is a sector and region we know deeply, and we are excited for what we’ll all be able to achieve together.”