For additional information, contact:
William Filip, Partner
Baird Venture Partners
610-975-0929
wfilip@rwbaird.com
Angela Pittman, Public Relations Coordinator
Robert W. Baird & Co., Incorporated
414-298-1902
apittman@rwbaird.com
CHICAGO, May 9, 2005 – Baird Venture Partners, the U.S.-based venture capital affiliate of investment firm Robert W. Baird & Co. (Baird), announced today it has added Devin Mathews as a Vice President. The addition comes as part of Baird’s overall efforts to enhance its already significant resources dedicated to Business Services.
“We’re very pleased to have Devin on the team,” said Bill Filip, Partner, Baird Venture Partners. “He is an exceptional talent and will add tremendous value to our efforts.”
Mathews will work with Filip and Baird Venture Partners Business Services team members Benedict Rocchio and James Pavlik. Prior to joining Baird Venture Partners, Mathews served as a Principal at Great Hill Partners, where he was responsible for developing and managing business services and financial services investment initiatives. Prior to Great Hill, Devin was a Senior Associate at William Blair Capital Partners in Chicago. Mathews received a BA from the State University of New York at Binghamton, and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Baird Venture Partners is a component of Baird Private Equity, which includes 11 professionals focused on Business Services. Recent transactions in the space include:
Payroll Associates – Baird Venture Partners participated in the Company’s recapitalization in December 2004. Co-investors included Great Hill Partners and North Hill Ventures. Founded in 1990, Payroll Associates is a leading provider of payroll processing software to independent, small and medium size payroll service bureaus and other entities including banks, accounting firms, professional employer organizations, and insurance firms. In addition to its traditional software business, PAI has a payroll service bureau division to provide outsourced payroll processing services to small- and medium-sized businesses.
SmartTime Software – The Company’s preferred stock equity financing was led by Baird Venture Partners and included Zon Capital Partners, North Hill Ventures and senior management. SmartTime is a leader in Active Workforce Management providing integrated scheduling, time and attendance, workflow planning and optimization solutions to employers with complex workforce environments.
Austin Logistics Incorporated – Baird Venture Partners led the Series A Preferred Stock financing, which closed on February 2, 2004. Other investors included Svoboda Collins, Apex Venture Partners and North Hill Ventures, the venture capital affiliate of Capital One Financial Corporation. Austin Logistics is a leading provider of predictive analytics, targeted primarily to financial institutions and most specifically their consumer credit divisions.
Over the past decade, Baird Private Equity has made private equity investments in numerous Business Services companies in the United States and Europe, including ArmorGroup International Limited; Austin Logistics Incorporated; The Aviant Group; Berbee Information Networks Corporation; CLP Resources, Inc.; Controlex España Prevención de Riesgos, S.L.; Encore Legal Solutions, L.L.C.; Everdream Corporation; HireRight, Inc.; Jefferson Wells International, Inc.; Marshall Erdman & Associates; Mentor Technology Limited; Nobis Beteiligungen GmbH; Payroll Associates, Inc., Public Recruitment Group Limited; SmartTime Software, Inc.; Team BS Betriebs-Service GmbH; and TrialGraphix, Inc.
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About Baird Global Private Equity
With more than 40 investment professionals in the United States and Europe, Baird’s global private equity business has raised and managed over $1.2 billion in capital. Baird Venture Partners makes venture capital investments in early- to growth-stage companies in the Business Services and Healthcare/Life Sciences sectors. Baird Capital Partners provides late-stage growth capital or change-of-control capital to U.S.-based, middle-market companies in the Business Services, Industrial Products and Healthcare/Life Sciences sectors. Granville Baird Capital Partners is a long-established private equity manager targeting mid-market growth companies in the UK and Germany with a focus on the Business Services, Healthcare, and Industrial Products sectors. The group’s investments are supported by Baird’s full range of financial advice, operating expertise and industry research, providing a unique full-service approach to the entire private equity investment process. For more information, please visit www.bairdventurepartners.com.
About Baird
Baird, established in 1919, is an employee-owned international wealth management, capital markets, private equity and asset management firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Baird’s principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird’s U.S. private equity operations.
Committed to being a great place to work, Baird is one of FORTUNE magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” in 2005 and was also included on the magazine’s 2004 list. Robert W. Baird & Co. is a member of the New York Stock Exchange and other principal exchanges and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). Robert W. Baird Ltd., a member of the London Stock Exchange, and Granville Baird Capital Partners Ltd. are authorized and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority. For more information, please visit Baird’s Web site at www.rwbaird.com.
