Inside the Deal: How Baird Advised Atlas on its Series B Growth Round
Baird recently served as exclusive placement agent to Atlas on its Series B growth equity investment of up to $200 million from Sixth Street Growth. Combining its expertise in the HR Tech / EOR markets with specialized Equity Advisory product partners, Baird successfully assisted Atlas in navigating volatile markets to secure its desired growth investment.
Read more about this transaction below in our latest "Inside the Deal.”
Background & Situation Overview
- Based in Chicago, IL, Atlas Technology Solutions (“Atlas” or “The Company”) is an industry leader in the Employer of Record (EOR) market
- Atlas is led by its founder and CEO, Rick Hammell, and backed by Series A investor Guidepost Growth Equity
- Atlas pioneered the EOR market by establishing over 160 entities globally to empower companies to seamlessly expand internationally, and was experiencing exponential growth over recent years
- The Company was in the process of launching its new technology platform while undergoing a complete re-branding, and was seeking growth equity to support expansion of sales, marketing and technology development to drive growth
- Additionally, Atlas was exploring strategic acquisition opportunities for which incremental capital was desired
Baird Value-Add
- Beginning in the spring of 2022, Baird assisted the company in crafting marketing materials, positioning, analysis of KPIs, soliciting investors and supporting due diligence
- Structured an innovative security, which enables Atlas to benefit from near term financial milestones as well as longer term outperformance
- Negotiated equity commitment structure that allows the company to quickly act on strategic acquisition opportunities
- During a highly competitive fundraising environment for the EOR sector, Baird helped Atlas differentiate itself from its peers by highlighting its growth momentum, full-service technology platform, and unique value proposition as the only 100% direct provider in the market
- Ran a robust marketing process yielding interest from a wide range of investor types, including late-stage venture capital, growth equity, family office, and crossover
- Combining its expertise in the HR Tech / EOR sector with specialized Equity Advisory product partners, Baird navigated volatile markets, managing the capital raising process end-to-end, and minimized management distraction
Outcome
- In September 2022, despite a challenging equity market environment, Atlas announced its Series B round of up to $200M from Sixth Street Growth, a leading global investment firm with over $60bn in assets under management
- The capital will support Atlas’ continued global expansion via investment in sales, marketing, and technology development
- In connection with the investment, Nari Ansari, Managing Director at Sixth Street Growth, will join Atlas’ board of directors
