TSL Express Daily News

KEV Group, the leading North American provider of school activity fee management software solutions for K-12 schools, today announced that Five Arrows – the alternative assets arm of Rothschild & Co – has made a significant growth investment into KEV Group to further support the company’s ongoing acceleration in growth and future initiatives.

Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, KEV Group is a trusted partner to over 26,000 school districts across 41 U.S. states and 9 Canadian provinces – more than any other provider in the market with over $4 billion in funds managed annually. The company’s SchoolCash platform is the only all-in-one solution for school fund management that meets the financial management and reporting, payments, and workflow requirements at both the district- and school-level. The solution benefits parents/guardians with ease-of-use, convenience and support for all payment types.

Five Arrows is a trans-Atlantic investment platform targeting category-leading B2B data and software assets across a focused set of end-markets including education technology.  Their investment will support KEV Group’s continued product development, expansion of U.S. operations, and inorganic growth initiatives to help the company best serve its customers and deliver best-in-class software solutions. 

“Today’s announcement is an incredible validation of our strategic plan, remarkable team, and KEV’s school activity fund management software,” said Bram Belzberg, Chairman and CEO of KEV Group. “I’m deeply proud of what we’ve built and the positive impact we’ve had at K-12 schools across the United States and Canada with our solutions.”  

“This investment marks a significant new milestone in our journey,” continued Belzberg. “It allows us to leverage Five Arrows’ expertise as we continue to support K-12 school districts in transforming how they mitigate financial risks, realize staff and process efficiencies, and deliver a first-rate payment experience to their parent/guardians and community members.” 

Nicolas Robin and William Heldfond, Partner and Managing Director, respectively, at Five Arrows Principal Investments, commented: “Bram and his team at KEV Group impressed us with their achievements, as well as their ambitious, school-centric vision for the future. KEV Group has demonstrated an impressive track record of sustained rapid growth and operational excellence, as well as best-in-class customer feedback, and we're excited to provide an investment to support the business in its next chapter. Our growth investment in KEV Group brings another best-in-class North American software platform into the Five Arrows family, building on successful partnerships with US market leaders such as Springbrook, Rimes, n2y, Bridgeway Benefit Technologies, Juvare, Zenith American Solutions, The Stepping Stones Group, and RLDatix.” 

Northleaf Capital Partners and Partners Group, acting on behalf of their clients, served as lead arrangers on a senior secured credit facility for KEV Group to support the investment by Five Arrows. The financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. 

William Blair served as exclusive financial advisors to KEV Group, with Torys LLP acting as legal advisors.  

Baird served as the financial advisor for Five Arrows. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Goodmans LLP served as Mergers & Acquisitions counsel for Five Arrows, and Paul Hastings LLP provided targeted payments legal counsel. 

About KEV Group: 

KEV Group provides the only unified solution that enables K-12 districts to manage every dollar of school activity & district fees accurately, efficiently & consistently. By seamlessly integrating and automating all fee management processes, the KEV’s solutions provide real-time visibility and control over how districts and schools create, collect, manage, track, and reconcile these funds. Parents benefit from an easy-to-use solution that offers convenience and supports all payment types. More than 26,000 schools across North America rely on our solutions to manage over $4 billion in activity funds annually. Visit KEVGroup.com to learn more.  

About Five Arrows: 

Five Arrows is the alternative assets arm of Rothschild & Co and has €[XX] billion AuM with offices in Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Luxembourg. With over €[X] billion of assets under management, the corporate private equity business of Five Arrows is focused on investing in companies with highly defensible market positions, strong management teams, business models with high visibility of organic unit volume growth and strong unit economics, and multiple operational levers that can be used to unlock latent value. Sectors are limited to data and software, technology–enabled business services, and healthcare. For more information, please visit www.rothschildandco.com/en/five-arrows/corporate-private-equity