Aquiline-backed ClearCourse buys Pursuit Software

• Pursuit will use ClearCourse’s investment to transition into its next growth stage
• The company provides bespoke software solutions for high-end, multi-store jewellery businesses
• The jewellery management software sector has a projected value of £3.3 billion

Aquiline-backed ClearCourse announced on Tuesday that it is to acquire Pursuit Software.

ClearCourse is a London-based group of technology brands that provide software solutions and an integrated payments platform. Norwich-based Pursuit Software is a provider of bespoke software solutions for high-end, multi-store jewellery businesses that include London’s Fraser Hart and Edinburgh’s Hamilton & Inches.

Pursuit is the first jewellery software business that ClearCourse has acquired and will join the group’s retail division. The jewellery management software sector has a projected value of £3.3 billion.

Aquiline Capital Partners is a private equity firm headquartered in New York with an office in London. It invests globally in financial services and technology companies. To date it has invested in over 60 companies making over 350 add-on acquisitions.

“We are very pleased that Pursuit Software will be joining ClearCourse at what continues to be a challenging and crucial time for the UK high street and its independent brands,”  said Gerry Gualtieri, CEO of ClearCourse. “As we welcome another great team and thriving customer base, we look forward to an expansion with two exciting elements: investing further in the vibrant East of England, an area with serious potential, and the opportunity to penetrate the jewellery management software sector: an industry with a projected value of £3.3 billion this year and clear synergies across point-of-sale and payments software.”

Pursuit will look to leverage ClearCourse’s investment to help it grow. The company’s managing director, Mike Burns, will continue to lead the company.

“The majority of today’s retail sectors benefit from the support of big, industry-specific software businesses and the fit-for-purpose solutions that these companies develop,” said Mike Burns, managing director of Pursuit. “Yet in the jewellery space – a powerful sector that handles large transactions and creates meaningful customer relationships – technological investment is critically lacking. Working with ClearCourse, our team looks forward to building out a new league of specialised providers in the retail software mid-market, with ambitions to grow as a company that top-tier businesses can trust.”