Diligent to Acquire Steele Compliance Solutions

Acquisition Will Extend Diligent’s Modern Governance Platform with Steele’s Industry-Leading Ethics and Compliance Capabilities

NEW YORK & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Diligent Corporation (“Diligent” or the “Company”), the modern governance company with a platform used by nearly 700,000 board directors and leaders across 19,000 clients, announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Steele Compliance Solutions, Inc. (“Steele”), a global leader in ethics and compliance SaaS. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Steele is the trusted market leader in ethics and compliance management with more than 1,000 clients, including over 25% of the Fortune 250. Steele’s Ethics and Compliance Platform provides organizations with best-in-market capabilities for proactively managing internal and external risk. Steele’s platform leverages automation, AI-powered data, and human intelligence to help organizations navigate potential risks by providing the tools needed to proactively manage their compliance needs.

“We are excited to join forces with Steele and extend modern governance to ethics and compliance,” said Brian Stafford, CEO of Diligent. “The Steele team has an unrivaled wealth of experience and industry expertise serving compliance officers of today and tomorrow. As the market leader in ethics and compliance, Steele is core to Diligent’s strategy to leverage our strength in governance to expand our footprint in GRC and stakeholder capitalism. Together, we will offer leaders a more comprehensive C-suite and executive view of ESG risks, alongside the modern governance practices they have already implemented.”

Eric Lochner, CEO of Steele, commented: “We are passionate about delivering innovative compliance solutions to our clients. Our best-of-breed products have revolutionized how organizations big and small manage risk, giving leaders a truly integrated, holistic view of their compliance program. We’re thrilled to build on this foundation by teaming up with Diligent. Diligent’s innovative platform coupled with their like-minded dedication to their clients allows us to broaden our solution set, while ensuring our clients will still receive the high-touch, high-value experience they’ve come to expect with Steele.”

The Steele acquisition is expected to close in early March. District Capital Partners served as the exclusive financial advisor, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP served as the legal advisor to Diligent. For Steele, UBS served as the financial advisor, and Goodwin Procter LLP served as the legal advisor. Bregal Sagemount acquired Steele Compliance Solutions in 2016.

Diligent yesterday also announced the highly complementary acquisition of Galvanize, a global leader in SaaS governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) software. These two acquisitions together will unite the respective leaders in governance, next-gen risk, and compliance to establish the only modern GRC SaaS platform in the market.

About Diligent Corporation

Diligent powers modern governance, enabling transformational leaders to help their organizations do the right thing. Our governance platform provides new ways for leaders to digitally transform their governance practices, from increasing board and executive effectiveness to proactively managing risk and compliance practices to integrating real-time industry and company data like cyber risk scores and board composition. Diligent empowers leaders and teams to stay connected, informed, and ahead of what’s next so they can run more successful, equitable, and sustainable organizations – and create positive change in the world.

Today, nearly 700,000 governance leaders from over 19,000 organizations and 90 countries rely on the Diligent modern governance platform. With more than 1,000 employees globally, serving both public and private sectors, we are helping organizations digitize their governance practices and transform effective governance into a long-term, competitive advantage. Diligent is backed by leading investors Insight Partners, Clearlake Capital, and Blackstone. Learn more at Diligent.com.

About Steele Compliance Solutions, Inc.

Steele is the global leader in Ethics & Compliance Management. We partner with the world’s largest, most respected, companies to deliver compliance products and services that help organizations embrace a culture of compliance while protecting their brand.

Learn more at steeleglobal.com.