Omni Partners is eyeing at least three more GovTech bolt-ons for Infoshare+ ahead of potential exit discussions by the end of 2026 or early 2027, partner Elissa von Broembsen-Kluever told this news service.

The GP is in exclusivity with three bolt-on targets and expects to announce the deals in the coming months, von Broembsen-Kluever said. One of them operates in local authority data and citizen engagement, another spans local government and blue light services, and the third is focused on housing associations and social housing assets, she added.

When Omni bought the UK-based GovTech SaaS provider in November 2024, it set out to create a mid‑market challenger through a buy‑and‑build strategy.

The sponsor, which exclusively invests in lower mid‑market UK tech‑enabled services, education and training companies, sees the GovTech segment as providing solutions at a point of “unprecedented pressure”.

Falling government budgets and rising citizen expectations for digitalised services are creating the need for software that creates efficiencies, thereby cutting costs or generating additional revenue, von Broembsen‑Kluever said.

At the same time, the market remains highly fragmented, with a handful of large players alongside a long tail of subscale businesses that can be acquired at attractive entry multiples, she said. This makes consolidation particularly compelling.

Omni’s investment thesis for Infoshare+ is centred on businesses serving UK local government as the core end‑customer. Key focus areas include SaaS providers operating across local authorities, housing associations, and blue light services, where local government is the underlying customer base, she said.

Software companies must also address two core government needs identified by Omni, namely data and citizen engagement, and broader-based asset management. The latter would support local authority in managing hard assets such as housing, she said.

“We really want to create a pure-play technology story and a pure-play mission critical story – there’s that consistent theme across all of the acquisitions that we’re making,” she said.

When selecting add-ons, profitability is key – companies must be generating at least GBP 500k in EBITDA.

However, Omni focuses less on headline scale and more on recurring revenue, product quality, and technological advancement that allows for smooth integration into the Infoshare+ platform, von Broembsen-Kluever said.

This month the GP announced Barbour Logic as an eighth add-on for the company.

As a local authority provider, Barbour Logic fit the bill of what Omni was looking for, as it offers a parking enforcement and compliance platform that automates Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) appeals using AI. It can also handle user queries with a multilingual chatbot as well as a phone bot, and assist users in drafting appeals.

Last summer, Omni announced the bolt-on of Datatank, whose software helps local authorities identify potential council tax fraud and cases where residents falsely claim single‑person discounts. Councils can then challenge those claims and recover unpaid council tax.

“Those are examples of practical solutions that demonstrate how software can be used to make the local authorities much more efficient the way that they’re delivering services,” von Broembsen‑Kluever said.

Early sale plans

By the end of the year or early next year, Omni is open to engaging in sale discussions, von Broembsen‑Kluever said. Despite acquiring the platform just 18 months ago, the partner believes it can achieve an earlier-than-expected exit.

Infoshare+ has generated double-digit top-line growth YoY, she added.

Integration is a key part of Omni’s thinking around an exit. The sponsor’s focus on acquiring technologically advanced businesses – rather than companies weighed down by outdated IT systems or significant tech debt – will make integration faster.

“We have to be very thoughtful and systematic about who we do deals with, because not every GovTech provider is going to be the right fit for us. We very much skew our focus towards companies that have a very strong emphasis on software, because a lot of times there’s some consulting revenue as well in the mix,” she said.

Given the large universe of potential targets, Omni prioritises businesses it can cross‑sell, while also helping acquired companies benefit from shared back‑office infrastructure, such as finance, marketing and HR, allowing management teams to focus on product and growth rather than administration.

Mid‑market sponsors are viewed as the most likely buyer group, especially those seeking exposure to GovTech’s defensive characteristics and structural tailwinds, von Broembsen‑Kluever said.

London-based Omni Partners was set up in 2004 and has operated an independent sponsor model since. It focuses on rapidly growing lower mid-market businesses making at least GBP 2m in EBITDA that have an ambition to grow 5x over five years, according to its website.