Solano Partners Advise on the Sale of leading Govtech Business, Farthest Gate, to Compliance Software Business, Startraq

The sale will accelerate Farthest Gate’s “Government-as-a-Platform” strategy, bringing government workflows online and into the digital age. The deal highlights strong appetite for digital transformation software businesses, including in the wider GovTech sector which is ripe for investment and consolidation.

Solano Partners, a next-generation boutique investment bank that works exclusively with innovative technology businesses, announces the sale of Farthest Gate, a leading software platform for public sector services, to private-equity-backed StarTraq, a leading compliance software business focussed on the police and local authority market.

The deal will provide a larger platform and significant investment for Farthest Gate to capitalise on its ‘Government-as-a-Platform’ strategy and continue to digitise public sector processes with its cloud-based regulatory services software.

Farthest Gate is unique in the UK GovTech market, as the only provider delivering true end-to-end automation and digital solutions for public facing government services. The company has the most comprehensive and dynamic platform on the market and will revolutionize the way citizens and businesses interact with government departments.

With the public sector undergoing significant disruptions in recent years, as the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted, there is an urgent need for more efficient, accessible online services. By 2025, the UK GovTech sector is forecast to be worth an estimated £20bn by 2025, with the global market already worth £350bn, and Farthest Gate is at the forefront of this revolution.

Solano Partners was the exclusive financial advisor to Farthest Gate on the transaction.

“We were impressed with the Solano team from day 1 as, out of all the advisors we met, they demonstrated the most passion and ambition. The team’s energy was unwavering throughout the process and resulted in an outcome that significantly surpassed our expectations. Not only did they deliver an excellent result, but on a personal level, they were a delight to work with and kept what is a demanding process for any business, enjoyable and seamless.

Solano supported us in finding the right home for the business in StarTraq, which enables us to continue growing our product range and client base whilst helping us diversify into new markets.”

“This acquisition is an acceleration of our original thesis to create an international compliance cloud software business of scale and significantly expands the groups addressable market. We are delighted to be working with the Farthest Gate team.”