Lagan Technologies

Crescent led a syndicate of three investors who took a stake in this business in March 2002 as the company began to build on its core reference sites.

Lagan is a Belfast based software company focused on Customer Contact Management products that are targeted at the Local Government market in the UK and US. The company’s product aims to provide a comprehensive ‘one stop shop’ via fully empowered contact centre agents and a range of self-service options. This single interface provides service, support, account payment interactions, upselling and service enabling capabilities.

Within the UK, one of the major drivers in Lagan’s market space is the local government services to be electronically delivered.

In 2005 the company estabilshed itself in the US and has won a number of significant tenders in the single non emergency response (’311′) market.

The management team in Lagan had extensive experience at senior levels in the software industry. All functional disciplines were catered for and the team was supported by a quality group of non-executives on the board. In 2004 Crescent participated in a follow-on funding round along with DN Capital, a London based technology VC fund. This investment was directed at accelerating the international expansion of the company principally into the North American market.

In 2006 Crescent Capital II LP participated in a further round led by Cazenove while at the same time realising its Fund I investment.

The company was sold Kana software Inc in 2010 for £28m. Kana is owned by Accel/KKR, a large sotware focused private equity firm. Lagan today is a key component of the enlarged Kana group and is growing its NI base proactively to support the growth of the whole group.