May 27, 2015
Willkie advises Insight Venture Partners in a $92 million control investment in Virgin Pulse, the corporate wellness arm of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.
On May 27, Virgin Pulse, a designer of technology that cultivates good lifestyle habits for employees, announced the closing of a $92 million control investment by Willkie client Insight Venture Partners, in a combination of equity and debt. Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, an existing investor will remain as a minority investor following the closing. As part of the transaction, Insight’s Nikitas Koutoupes, Managing Director, and Anika Agarwal, Vice President, will join Virgin Pulse’s Board of Directors.
The investment follows the recent launch of Virgin Pulse’s next generation workforce well-being platform that enables enterprise clients to increase employee engagement and productivity, build culture and decrease healthcare costs by providing tools that help employees form “habits that matter.”
For nearly a decade, Framingham, Mass.-based Virgin Pulse has developed its consumer-focused roots to create products that drive hundreds of millions of habit-building interactions that encourage behavioral changes. More than 250 industry leaders representing more than 2 million employees have selected Virgin Pulse’s programs to replenish their people and ignite their business. Insight Venture Partners is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high-growth technology and software companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $10 billion and invested in more than 200 companies worldwide.
The deal was handled by a multidisciplinary Willkie team including: Corporate – partners Gordon Caplan and Matthew Guercio and associates Ziyad Aziz and Mark Myott; Finance – partner William Dye and associates Daniel Philion and Abena Yeboa; IP – partner Eugene Chang and associate Meghan Hungate; Benefits – partner Jordan Messinger and associate Rose Ohanesian; Litigation – partner Tony Yanez and associate Jennifer Greene; Tax – partner Christopher Peters and associate Edward Torres and Communications – associate Joshua Parker.
