Evant
Acquired in Strategic Merger
Key Retail Account Attracts
Industry Attention Prompting Sale
In November 2002, NONSTOP Solutions, a leading provider of supply chain optimization software and the fastest growing software company in the retail sector in 2002, agreed to acquire Evant. Recognizing the benefits Evant could bring to its merchandising platform, NONSTOP announced the acquisition shortly after Evant closed a significant sale to retail giant, Staples, Inc. The lucrative contract from the office supplies retailer clearly validated Evant’s multi-channel merchandise management solution and was a major catalyst in NONSTOP’s strategic acquisition of the Kline Hawkes portfolio company.
“The NONSTOP acquisition of Evant made a lot of sense for many reasons,” noted Kline Hawkes Partner and Evant board member, Jay Ferguson. “Both companies are based in San Francisco, and both compete in the demand management software industry which addresses the replenishment and allocation of inventory using consumer demand and economic variables as drivers for forecasting. NONSTOP provides an integrated forecasting, replenishment, allocation and investment buying solution for wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers and retailers, while Evant offers a robust, scalable software solution, built with “best-in-class” technologies, that is specifically designed for multi-channel retailers.”
Remarking on Evant’s development Rob Feuerman observed, “In many respects Evant was indicative of the challenges young companies with great new technology face when trying to gain market acceptance in a tough environment. Evant clearly had a superior service offering that was robust, scaleable and solved many of the supply chain management problems large, multi-channel, retail businesses are faced with in the digital age. Yet due to the virtual freeze on IT spending, it became tough for the company to validate its technology. On numerous occasions we were selected in a “bake-off” by a particular retail chain only to have the company turn around and cancel the order because of IT budget constraints. It was the Staples win that really put us on the map.”
Commenting on the Evant acquisition Bob Lewis, CEO of NONSTOP Solutions said, “The retail industry is looking for the next generation merchandising platform that will solve today’s complex, evolving, merchandising challenges. In many cases, these companies are supported by legacy systems or software packages designed ten years ago. The combination of Evant and NONSTOP’s product offerings gives retailers an exciting new option. Evant brings a comprehensive suite of planning and merchandise transaction management applications that, combined with NONSTOP’s sophisticated replenishment tools, address many of these difficult problems. With this acquisition, we will be offering the first end-to-end merchandising suite built on an open systems platform, providing customers with a number of technology advantages including significant scalability, enhanced integration capabilities and platform independence.” The strength of the combined entities was quickly demonstrated when Camping World, the world’s largest retailer of RV accessories, committed to implementing both NONSTOP and Evant’s product suites.
Following the acquisition, NONSTOP management decided to re-brand the company which will be known as Evant, Inc. going forward.