DLA Piper advises Five V Capital on its divestment of Totara Learning Solutions

After advising Five V Capital on their initial acquisition of Totara Learning Solutions (Totara), DLA Piper in New Zealand has acted for Five V Capital on the successful divestment of Totara to Tenzing, a European private equity investor.

Founded in New Zealand, Totara has emerged as a leading provider of highly configurable learning, engagement, and performance management software to enterprises worldwide. At the core of its offerings is the Totara Talent Experience Platform (TXP), an all-encompassing solution tailored to meet the mission critical learning and performance needs of workplaces. TXP supports an extensive user base of 20 million individuals across 140 countries and has garnered the trust of some of the world’s largest corporations, including USDA, the NHS, Diageo, Sony, Toyota, and Amazon Alexa.

In June 2020, New Zealand M&A Partner, Reuben Woods, advised Five V Capital on its acquisition of a majority interest in Totara and partnership with its founder, Richard Wyles to embark on the next stage of Totara’s growth. Since then, Totara has rapidly scaled, growing at a 30% CAGR, establishing itself as a globally recognised platform. Now, in partnership with Tenzing, Totara is well positioned to continue its growth journey.

DLA Piper’s cross-border team was led by New Zealand partner Reuben Woods (M&A) who was supported by Tayla Court (associate) and Sneha Kant (solicitor). The wider New Zealand team included partners Nick Valentine (Intellectual Property and Technology), Pavanie Edirisuriya (Corporate), and David Johnston (Tax). The team worked across multiple jurisdictions, including the United States and the United Kingdom, drawing on the expertise of partner Mark Radcliffe (USA), of counsel Chris Stevenson (USA), and Corporate partners Keith Ranta (USA) and Andrew Phillips (UK).

Commenting on the transaction, DLA Piper partner Reuben Woods says, “This was a complex transaction requiring genuine tech, open-source, private equity, and tax expertise across multiple jurisdictions, combined with the need to problem-solve and to find commercial solutions at speed. We really appreciate and enjoy working with the Five V Capital team; a client operating at the top of its game“.

Nikita Pandit, Investment Lead, Five V Capital said “It was a pleasure working with Reuben and the team at DLA Piper on both our initial investment in Totara and now in our divestment to Tenzing. Their global bandwidth and capability were highly valued, especially for a multi-jurisdictional transaction and business such as Totara”.