Brainier Solutions

Minneapolis, Minnesota – Quazar is pleased to announce that its client, Brainier Solutions (“Brainier” or “Company”), an operating subsidiary of BI Worldwide (“BIW”), has been acquired by ClearCompany, a portfolio company of Gemspring Capital. Quazar acted as Brainier’s exclusive financial advisor in the transaction, while Moss & Barnett served as legal counsel. Eide Bailly LLP performed the sell-side Quality of Earnings for Brainier in the transaction. The transaction closed on May 17, 2024, and terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Brainier Solutions, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company, was founded in 1987 and was later acquired by BIW in 1999. At the time, Quazar acted as BIW’s buy-side advisor on the transaction. Over the next 20+ years, Brainier Solutions became renowned in the industry for its innovative corporate learning management system (LMS) that serves a diverse set of organizations, including small to medium-sized enterprises, nonprofits, and government agencies. The Company’s LMS is an award-winning platform celebrated for its robust, user-friendly experience that enhances employee training and development programs.

ClearCompany, a leader in human capital management software, provides software solutions to mid-market and enterprise businesses, supporting more than 2,000 customers over 50 distinct industry verticals. ClearCompany is excited to integrate Brainier’s comprehensive LMS into its suite of solutions to streamline talent acquisition, performance management, employee engagement, and now with an LMS, empower people with ongoing education throughout every stage of the employee journey. Andre Lavoie, CEO and Co-Founder of ClearCompany, commented, “Brainier Solutions has developed a powerful and flexible LMS that has garnered a strong market presence. This acquisition aligns with our mission to provide best-in-class technology solutions. We look forward to leveraging Brainier’s technology to expand our offerings and better serve our clients.”

Larry Schoenecker, CEO of BI Worldwide, stated, “We are very happy to see Brainier join forces with ClearCompany and Gemspring Capital. We believe this is a good home for Brainier management, employees, and technology. We want to thank Quazar for their expert guidance, diligence, and support throughout this process, ensuring a smooth and successful transaction.”

Brainier Solutions (brainier.com) specializes in providing an advanced learning management system designed to meet the needs of modern organizations. Its LMS platform supports a wide range of learning activities and offers features such as customizable interfaces, comprehensive reporting, and seamless integrations with other enterprise systems.

BI Worldwide (biworldwide.com), the parent company of Brainier Solutions, is a global leader in engagement solutions. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, BI Worldwide designs and delivers custom programs that engage employees, channel partners, and customers. Their services range from employee recognition and sales incentives to customer loyalty and events, helping organizations drive measurable results and create meaningful connections. With offices in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia, BI Worldwide serves clients around the world.

ClearCompany (clearcompany.com), a full-spectrum Talent Management platform, has enabled thousands of companies to maximize talent by empowering people at every stage of the employee journey. ClearCompany integrates data-driven best practices, expert-informed content, and tailored software tools to recruit, ramp, recognize, and retain employees, uniting people and processes to achieve business success.

Gemspring Capital (gemspring.com), a Westport, Connecticut-based private equity firm with $3.5 billion of capital under management, provides flexible capital solutions to middle market companies. Gemspring partners with talented management teams and takes a partnership approach to helping drive revenue growth, value creation and sustainable competitive advantages. Target companies have up to $1 billion in revenue and are in the aerospace & defense, business services, consumer services, financial and insurance services, healthcare services, industrial services, software and tech-enabled services, or specialty manufacturing sectors.

Quazar (quazarinc.com) is a Minneapolis-based Investment Bank founded in 1990. Quazar specializes in working with privately held businesses within various industries, including manufacturing, distribution, business services, technology, and consumer sectors. Quazar provides both sell-side and buy-side advisory services to companies in the lower middle and middle market.