Capital Solutions Leads Acquisition of Minority Stake in HSI

New York, November 15, 2023 – Neuberger Berman, a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager, announced that funds advised by Neuberger Berman (“NB”) have led a minority recapitalization of Health & Safety Institute (“HSI” or “the Company”). Neuberger Berman joins existing investor Waud Capital Partners (“WCP”), a leading private equity firm based in Chicago, IL, which will retain a majority stake in HSI.

Headquartered in Texas, HSI is an environmental, health, safety, and quality (EHSQ) compliance software and training platform. Through its proprietary content and integrated cloud-based technology, the company reduces the financial and reputation risk of its customers, improves business outcomes, and helps with compliance in an increasingly complex regulatory environment. Its comprehensive portfolio of solutions includes workplace safety and skills training, a full-suite EHSQ platform, HR compliance and leadership training, and CPR/AED training and certification.

NB Capital Solutions led the process, with investments made from several NB client portfolios. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

“We are excited to partner with management and WCP to support HSI’s continued growth. We have long admired HSI as a clear market leader in making workplaces safer, with a demonstrated track record of organic growth that has been augmented by a thoughtful acquisition strategy.” said Nikhil Krishnan, Managing Director, Neuberger Berman Capital Solutions.

“Powered by a proven management team and a market leading offering at the intersection of software and training, HSI has experienced a period of transformational growth and success, and we are excited to continue the partnership with HSI and our new partner NB to support the Company’s next phase of growth,” said Justin DuPere, Partner at WCP.

“We’ve enjoyed the partnership with Waud Capital Partners and look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with WCP as well as our new partners at NB,” said Chad Birckelbaw, CEO of HSI. “With the support of WCP and NB we will continue investing to make workplaces safer and smarter through our unique solution offering combining a highly-configurable EHS platform tightly integrated with a best-in-class training content library delivered through a single interface.”

Harris Williams served as financial advisor, and Latham & Watkins served as legal advisor to Neuberger Berman. Moelis & Company and Robert W. Baird served as financial advisors, and Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor to HSI.

About HSI

HSI is a single-source partner for EHS, training, compliance, and professional development solutions. HSI provides integrated e-learning content, training solutions, and cloud-based software designed to enable your business to improve safety, operations, and employee development. Across all industries, HSI helps safety and technical managers, human resources, first responders, and operational leaders train and develop their workforce, keep workers safe, and meet regulatory and operational compliance requirements. For more information, visit www.hsi.com.

About Waud Capital Partners

Based in Chicago, Waud Capital Partners is a leading growth-oriented private equity firm with $4.6 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2022. Waud Capital seeks to partner with strong management teams to build market-leading companies within two industries: healthcare and software & technology. Since its founding in 1993, Waud Capital has successfully completed more than 450 investments, including platform companies and follow-on opportunities. For additional information on Waud Capital, visit www.waudcapital.com.

About NB Capital Solutions

NB Capital Solutions provides bespoke capital solutions to private equity-owned companies, enabling sponsors and management teams to achieve long-term strategic objectives. NB Capital Solutions manages $6 billion in capital commitments and has made investments in over 90 companies across its two funds. For more information, please visit www.nbcapitalsolutions.com.

About Neuberger Berman

Neuberger Berman, founded in 1939, is a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager. The firm manages a range of strategies—including equity, fixed income, quantitative and multi-asset class, private equity, real estate and hedge funds—on behalf of institutions, advisors and individual investors globally. Neuberger Berman’s investment philosophy is founded on active management, engaged ownership and fundamental research, including industry-leading research into material environmental, social and governance factors. Neuberger Berman is a PRI Leader, a designation awarded to fewer than 1% of investment firms. With offices in 26 countries, the firm’s diverse team has over 2,750 professionals. For nine consecutive years, Neuberger Berman has been named first or second in Pensions & Investments Best Places to Work in Money Management Best Places to Work in Money Management survey among those with 1,000 employees or more). The firm manages $439 billion in client assets as of September 30, 2023. For more information, please visit our website at www.nb.com.

Media Contacts:

(Americas) Alex Samuelson, 212.476.5392, Alexander.Samuelson@NB.com
(Europe) Fiona Kehily, +44 (20) 3214 9087, Fiona.Kehily@nb.com
(Asia) Kay So, 852 3664 8850, Kay.So@nb.com
(Japan & Korea) Kiyoko Yamaguchi, 8135218196, Kiyoko.Yamaguchi@nb.com