Francisco Partners Completes Acquisition of The Weather Company

The Weather Company Accelerates Commitment to People and Businesses and Sharpens Focus on Innovation and Development of Forecasting Products and Technology

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Francisco Partners, a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology businesses, today announced the completion of its acquisition of The Weather Company (the "Company"), one of the world's leading weather technology providers, from IBM, previously announced in August 2023. Under the ownership of Francisco Partners, the new standalone company will continue to be led by CEO Sheri Bachstein.

As a standalone company, The Weather Company, recognized as the world's most accurate weather forecaster, will extend its more than 40-year legacy to deliver weather data and insights to people and businesses across the globe. With additional capital and resources, the Company is well positioned to innovate with focus and velocity, ultimately providing even greater value to the millions of people and businesses who rely on it daily to make smarter, better-informed decisions.

The Company serves an average of more than 360 million people each month through its consumer-facing digital properties including The Weather Channel mobile app and weather.com, Weather Underground, and Storm Radar. The Weather Channel, the Company’s flagship consumer brand, is one of the top 10 most trusted brands in America¹ and has exciting innovation in store. The Company is also sharpening its enterprise focus. With the global economic impact of weather events predicted to reach $5 trillion over the next five years,² the Company is accelerating its enterprise work across a variety of industries to help businesses harness – rather than fall victim to – weather’s increasing volatility.

“As weather continues to become more disruptive and impactful to society, we are strengthening our efforts to further deliver products that help people and businesses understand what the forecast means for them,” said Sheri Bachstein, CEO of The Weather Company. “Weather can be a competitive advantage, not just a fact of life, and therefore every business needs a weather strategy and weather partner they can trust. Our future with Francisco Partners enables us to unleash our full potential and continue to creatively and responsibly use science and technology to propel the world. Stay tuned for more from us in the coming weeks and months as we unveil new products and services for consumers and customers around the globe.”

“We’re excited to partner with the team and employees at The Weather Company and continue their mission to help people and businesses make more informed decisions and take action in the face of weather,” commented Alan Ni, Partner at Francisco Partners. “The Company’s trusted consumer, media, and industry-specific products, competitive solutions, and responsible technologies are unmatched. We are confident that with our financial and operating support, this business will have even more revolutionary products to bring to market in the weeks, months, and years ahead.”

Mei Shi, Principal at Francisco Partners, added, “Francisco Partners has a long and successful track record of executing divisional carve-out transactions, and The Weather Company is no exception. We’re confident the company will thrive operating as an independent company and drive crucial focus in executing on organic and inorganic growth strategies.”

About The Weather Company

The Weather Company helps people and businesses around the world make more informed decisions and take action in the face of weather. With its deep industry expertise and highly accurate, high-volume weather data combined with advanced technology and AI, The Weather Company provides insights and solutions that harness the power of weather in a scalable, privacy-forward way. The world’s most accurate forecaster, the company serves hundreds of enterprise customers across media, advertising, aviation and more, and is trusted by hundreds of millions of monthly active users via digital properties from The Weather Channel (weather.com) and Weather Underground (wunderground.com). For more, visit weathercompany.com.

About Francisco Partners

Francisco Partners is a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology and technology-enabled businesses. Since its launch nearly 25 years ago, Francisco Partners has invested in more than 400 technology companies, making it one of the most active and longstanding investors in the technology industry. With approximately $45 billion in capital raised to date, the firm invests in opportunities where its deep sectoral knowledge and operational expertise can help companies realize their full potential. For more information on Francisco Partners, please visit www.franciscopartners.com.

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1. According to a Morning Consult, May 2023: https://pro.morningconsult.com/analyst-reports/most-trusted-brands-2023 The Weather Channel brand was the #9 most trusted brand in the US. The surveys were conducted from 3/3/2023 through 4/3/2023, among a nationally representative sample of 799 to 8,434 U.S. adults.
2. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/global-economic-losses-extreme-weather-could-hit-5-trln-lloyds-2023-10-11/