AI Issue 10 2017

Acquisition International - October 2017 5 On the 6th October, leading provider of human capital management (HCM) solutions in the cloud, Ultimate Software announced that Wedbush Securities, a leading investment firm that provides a range of financial services, achieved an annual return of 445% on its investment in UltiPro, according to an ROI study conducted by third-party analyst firm Nucleus Research. The study also found that Wedbush’s payback period was two months. Founded in 1955, Wedbush Securities has been a leader in the financial industry providing its clients with a wide range of services, including private client services and institutional sales, correspondent clearing services, equity research, corporate and municipal finance, equity market making, fixed income trading, and wealth management. Headquartered in Los Angeles, with nearly 100 registered offices, the firm focuses on dedicated service, client financial safety, continuity, and advanced technology. In order to better address compliance issues and gain greater financial visibility, Wedbush selected UltiPro and went live in January 2011. “The capabilities that enabled us to achieve a significant ROI with UltiPro are also helping us manage the complexities of the financial industry,” said Kevin Lundby, senior vice president of human resources for Wedbush Securities. “We are strictly regulated by the SEC and FINRA, and subject to regular internal and external audits. Prior to UltiPro, we had a manual entry system which was inefficient and ineffective. The multi-tiered manual process involved individual notifications to various departments that ate up a considerable amount of our time, created significant notification delays, and opened the door to human errors in documentation. Since working with UltiPro, our processes have been automated into a one-step solution, saving countless hours of work. With UltiPro and its workforce analytics, we have visibility into our people with 100% accuracy and can diminish the risk of compliance-related issues.” UltiPro Onboarding is also helping Wedbush manage compliance. According to Lundby, UltiPro ensures that every new hire receives and completes all the required forms, which though often subject to audits, are now easy to monitor electronically. And while UltiPro’s improved processes are helping Wedbush employees increase productivity, managers are also able to use the solution to maximize profitability. “Managers who oversee profit centres pay very close attention to expenses—their employee costs—because their incentives are driven by their own profitability for their areas,” said Lundby. “These managers need to know on a day-to-day basis what their expense line looks like relative to revenue. Before UltiPro, these managers would need to contact HR for this information, and we would have to undertake a very laborious process to generate lists of employees, their compensation, and employee-related costs. Now, we use the power of UltiPro Business Intelligence to create manager dashboards that analyse pay data.” UltiPro Business Intelligence is also helping profit- centre managers factor the costs of state regulation into their calculations. Managers need point-in- time reporting, not only to compare overtime data from one pay period with the next, but also to track costs associated with California’s new meal-period penalty. According to Lundby, managers are using their BI dashboard to better monitor costs resulting from the penalty, and controlling them in the same way the company manages overtime spending. “UltiPro enables companies to tackle meaningful compliance challenges and make informed business decisions,” said Greg Swick, global chief sales officer at Ultimate. “At the same time, the report from Nucleus demonstrates that the business improvements driven by UltiPro also help to boost bottom-line results. We are pleased that UltiPro is providing Wedbush managers with the tools they need to be successful, and providing insights that accelerate business growth.” Ultimate Software, a leading provider of human capital management (HCM) solutions in the cloud, announced on the 6th October that Wedbush Securities, achieved an annual return of 445% on its investment in UltiPro, according to an ROI study conducted by third-party analyst firm Nucleus Research. The study also found that Wedbush’s payback period was two months. H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global private equity investment firm with $23 billion of equity capital under management, announced on the 5th October the acquisition of Urbanity Corporate Centre, in São Paulo. On the 5th October, leading global private equity investment firm with $23 billion of equity capital under management, H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”) announced the acquisition of Urbanity Corporate Centre, in São Paulo. Urbanity Corporate is a AAA office building with 29,248 square meters of space, located in the South Region of São Paulo. The building is part of a newly developed mixed-use complex. Fernando Marques Oliveira, Head of H.I.G. Brazil and Latin America said, “We are very excited to complete this off-market transaction. It reflects our belief that the real estate sector in Brazil is set for a meaningful recovery. As such, H.I.G. is looking forward to committing a significant amount of capital to the sector, building on H.I.G.’s extensive local presence and relationships.” Daniel Nader head of H.I.G. Realty in Brazil added, “We believe this is an excellent time to acquire office buildings in São Paulo, given the expected recovery in the market and the low volume of new supply in the next few years. The South Marginal Region in particular, where Urbanity is located, is benefiting substantially from the recent improvements in the infrastructure of the city. Urbanity will benefit from the access and public transportation improvements in the Region. The building is the closest office tower to the bridge Edson Bueno Godoy and near the tunnel access.” Financial terms were not disclosed. H.I.G. Capital Acquires Urbanity Corporate Center NEWS / From Around The World