Gartner sells Challenger to private equity firm

21st September 2018 |   Journal Of Sales Transformation

Research and advisory firm Gartner has sold its Challenger business to Los Angeles based private equity firm Marlin Equity Partners less than 18 months after acquiring it as part of CEB. Gartner acquired CEB on 6 April 2017 for some $2.6 billion in cash and stock; financial terms of the subsequent sale to Marlin of the business based around the Challenger and Effortless Experience solutions have not been announced.

Ryan Wald, a managing director at Marlin said: “We are excited to partner with the Challenger management team and look forward to supporting them as they continue to bring new and innovative solutions to the performance improvement market.”

Simon Frewer, CEO of Challenger said: “Marlin shares our strategic vision of continuing to expand the product portfolio and tech-enabled service offerings and accelerating our pace of innovation.”

Last year’s CEB acquisition saw Gartner assume approximately $0.7 billion in CEB net debt; it has since divested itself of some divisions.