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Hg announced an agreement to acquire AuditBoard on May 23, 2024, in a transaction valued at more than $3 billion. HgCapital Trust later reported that the investment completed in July 2024. The announcements did not disclose the purchase-price terms or a valuation multiple.
What happened in the AuditBoard acquisition?
Hg, a private-equity investor focused on software and services, agreed to acquire AuditBoard, an enterprise software company founded in 2014. AuditBoard sells a connected risk platform spanning internal audit, risk management, compliance and environmental, social and governance (ESG) management.
The headline transaction value was more than $3 billion. That figure describes the announced deal value; it is not the same as the amount invested by HgCapital Trust (HgT), one of the investment vehicles participating in the transaction.
Hg announced the agreement on May 23, 2024. HgT’s FY 2024 report says the investment completed in July 2024, making AuditBoard a Hg portfolio company.
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What does AuditBoard do?
AuditBoard provides software intended to connect the work of audit, risk and compliance teams instead of leaving those functions in separate systems. Its platform also includes ESG management capabilities, allowing enterprises to organize related controls, evidence, workflows and reporting in one environment.
At the time of the acquisition announcement, AuditBoard said it served more than 2,000 enterprises, including nearly 50% of the Fortune 500. It also reported more than $200 million in annual recurring revenue during late 2023. Those figures were company-reported milestones, not terms of the transaction.
Why did Hg buy AuditBoard?
Hg said it saw several ways to help AuditBoard expand while continuing to invest in its enterprise platform:
- Product innovation: further development of the connected audit, risk, compliance and ESG offering.
- International growth: expansion beyond AuditBoard’s established markets.
- Customer success: additional support for the organizations and practitioners using the platform.
- Platform expansion: broader capabilities across related governance, risk and compliance workflows.
Nic Humphries, Hg’s senior partner and head of the Saturn funds, said Hg had tracked AuditBoard for five years and saw “a massive opportunity ahead.” The statement indicates a long-running investment thesis rather than a transaction assembled solely around a short-term market move.
Battery Ventures, which invested in AuditBoard in 2018, described the company as having operated profitably since that initial investment. That history helps explain how AuditBoard could combine a large recurring-revenue software business with the capital discipline that attracts a buyout investor. Profitability is an attributed description from Battery Ventures, not a separately disclosed figure in Hg’s transaction announcement.
How much was AuditBoard worth?
The only announced headline valuation was more than $3 billion. Detailed purchase-price terms were not disclosed. HgCapital Trust’s regulatory announcement explicitly said the terms of the transaction were not disclosed, so a precise equity value, enterprise value, debt package or purchase-price multiple cannot be calculated from the official notices.
| Figure | What it represents | Timing and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| More than $3 billion | Headline value of the Hg-AuditBoard transaction | Announced May 23, 2024; detailed terms were not disclosed |
| More than $200 million | AuditBoard annual recurring revenue | Company-reported milestone reached during late 2023 |
| More than 2,000 enterprises | AuditBoard customer count | Company-reported scale at the 2024 announcement |
| Nearly 50% of the Fortune 500 | Share of Fortune 500 companies among AuditBoard’s customers | Company-reported figure at the 2024 announcement |
| Approximately £87.2 million | Planned HgT investment announced alongside the deal | May 23, 2024 regulatory notice; not the purchase price |
| £114.5 million, including £26.9 million of co-investment | HgT’s total FY 2024 AuditBoard investment | Reported after completion in HgCapital Trust’s FY 2024 report |
The two sterling amounts should not be treated as conflicting sale prices. The first was the investment amount described in the announcement; the second was HgT’s later fiscal-year reporting of its total investment, including co-investment. Neither figure establishes that Hg paid only that amount for AuditBoard.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsWhat did Hg actually invest?
HgT said it would invest approximately £87.2 million, with other institutional clients investing alongside Hg through the Hg Saturn 3 Fund. After the deal closed, HgCapital Trust’s FY 2024 report recorded £114.5 million invested on behalf of HgT, of which £26.9 million was co-investment.
These figures describe HgT’s participation and reporting context, not the value of the entire acquisition. Because the wider fund commitments, other investor contributions and transaction financing were not disclosed, they cannot be added together to reverse-engineer a purchase price.
When did the acquisition close?
- May 23, 2024: Hg announced that it had agreed to acquire AuditBoard in a transaction valued at more than $3 billion.
- July 2024: HgCapital Trust reported that the investment completed.
The May announcement therefore described an agreement, while July marks the completion reported by the investor vehicle. Treating the announcement date as the closing date would collapse two separate stages of the transaction.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is AuditBoard a private company now?
The completed transaction placed AuditBoard under Hg ownership as a portfolio company. The available transaction notices do not describe a stock-market listing, delisting process or public tender offer. AuditBoard had been a venture-backed software company, including investment from Battery Ventures, before Hg’s acquisition; the disclosed materials do not provide a separate legal-status announcement beyond the completed private-equity transaction.
What the deal says about AuditBoard’s strategy
The acquisition combines a scaled enterprise software platform with a private-equity owner that says it intends to support growth rather than replace the product’s core focus. AuditBoard CEO Scott Arnold said the partnership was “further validation of our practitioner-first focus.” Co-founder Daniel Kim said the transaction validated a customer- and practitioner-centric approach to developing technology.
Those comments point to continuity in AuditBoard’s product philosophy, but they do not guarantee specific future features, pricing, staffing or customer-contract changes. Hg’s announcement identified product innovation, international expansion, customer success and broader platform development as opportunities; it did not publish a detailed post-acquisition operating plan.
What remains undisclosed?
- The exact purchase price and allocation between equity and debt.
- The full transaction terms and the amount invested by all participating Hg Saturn investors.
- A reliable contemporaneous valuation denominator for calculating a purchase-price-to-revenue or purchase-price-to-ARR multiple.
- Any specific changes to AuditBoard’s pricing, leadership, product roadmap or customer agreements after completion.
Accordingly, the defensible conclusion is that Hg completed a more-than-$3-billion acquisition of a large, recurring-revenue audit and risk software provider, while the financial mechanics of the sale remain private.
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