Yellow Brand Protection Group AB Acquisition by Corsearch, Inc.

Yellow Brand Protection Group AB has been sold to Corsearch, Inc. Lincoln International is delighted to have represented the shareholders of Yellow on its sale to Corsearch, a portfolio company of Audax. The purchase of Yellow by Corsearch enables the companies to join forces and provide the industry with a full-suite and forward-looking offering of brand protection services to support the creation, establishment, growth and protection of valued IP.

Profile of Yellow Brand Protection Group AB

Yellow Brand Protection Group AB (Yellow), founded in 2014, is a leading global provider of online anti-counterfeiting and brand protection services. Operating from offices across Europe, the US, and China, Yellow’s disruptive cloud-based software platform, “ZERO”, seeks to identify and combat IP-infringing content found anywhere in the world, online. Yellow’s data clustering capability makes sense of vast data streams and prioritises major threats to valuable brands around the world. As a testament to its efficacy, it currently provides services to four of the top ten “World’s Most Valuable Brands,” according to Forbes.

Industry Context and Acquirer Details

Corsearch, Inc. (Corsearch) founded in 1949, provides industry-leading brand establishment and protection services for trademark and brand professionals in over 60 countries on five continents. Since its founding in 1999, Audax Private Equity (Audax) has been focused on building leading middle market companies. Audax has invested $5 billion in 118 platform and 715 add-on companies. Through its disciplined Buy & Build approach, Audax seeks to help platform companies execute add-on acquisitions that fuel revenue growth, optimize operations, and significantly increase equity value.

Transaction Advisory and Leadership Perspectives

Lincoln acted as the exclusive financial adviser to the shareholders of Yellow. Working closely with the management team, Lincoln prepared the Company for sale and then managed the entire transaction process to a successful completion, including providing advisory expertise and managing the preparation, marketing, negotiation and due diligence phases of the transaction. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Daniel Bennett, CEO of Yellow, commented, “We are delighted with the outcome of this transaction. Lincoln’s close access to the global private equity, venture capital and strategic acquirer community played a pivotal role in identifying the right partner to take Yellow forward. Lincoln’s extensive preparation and thoughtful guidance throughout the process was instrumental to its success.”

Chris Brooks, head of Lincoln’s UK TMT Group, said, “We were delighted to have advised Yellow on this important transaction, which adds to Lincoln’s cloud-based software credentials, as well as its experience within the intellectual property software and services market.”

Key Entity Summary

• Yellow Brand Protection Group AB: Founded in 2014, provider of the "ZERO" cloud-based platform for online anti-counterfeiting.
• Corsearch, Inc.: Founded in 1949, global provider of brand establishment and protection services.
• Audax Private Equity: Founded in 1999, investor focused on the middle market and Buy & Build strategies.
• Lincoln International: Exclusive financial adviser managing the transaction, marketing, and due diligence.