London – 1st April 2025 – Providence Equity Partners (“Providence”), a specialist private equity investment firm focused on growth-oriented media, communications, education and technology companies, today announces the acquisition of Tax Systems, the global tax and accounting software provider, from Bowmark Capital (“Bowmark”), the mid-market private equity firm specialising in technology, data and service companies. Providence’s investment will support Tax Systems’ continued platform expansion and innovation, targeting new tax and regulatory compliance solutions in existing and new geographies.
Founded in 1991, Tax Systems is a leading specialist provider of software and solutions which digitise the tax compliance process – enabling tax professionals to automate workflows, enhance compliance, mitigate risk and generate valuable insights from their tax function. The company now serves over 1,500 clients, including multinational enterprises, >80% of the top UK&I accounting firms, and approximately 40% of the FTSE 100.
Karim Tabet, Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Europe at Providence, commented: “We are excited by the opportunity to partner with Tax Systems. Throughout Bowmark’s ownership, the company has developed into a specialist leader in regulatory and compliance software. We believe this is a large and fragmented category, with constant changes and strong digitisation trends that provide potential for numerous growth avenues.”
Daniel Zwicky, Director at Providence, added: “We’ve followed Bruce Martin and the Tax Systems team for some time and are delighted to actively support their continued growth through organic platform innovation, enhancements to their product suite and commercial strategy, and through transformative acquisitions that drive value creation.”
Bruce Martin, CEO of Tax Systems, said: “We have enjoyed an excellent and rewarding partnership with Bowmark, whose support has been instrumental in strengthening our position in core markets, expanding our product suite, and successfully entering new geographies.
As we move into our next phase of growth, we are excited to be partnering with Providence, who recognise the strength of our business and the significant opportunities ahead. Their support will help us accelerate our expansion and innovation as we continue building the leading tax compliance software platform in EMEA.”
Simon Kaufman, partner at Bowmark, commented: “We are proud to have supported the Tax Systems management team in the development of the business since 2019. The company has an exceptional reputation and, following significant investment in its product suite and a highly complementary international acquisition, there is much opportunity ahead.”
Since Bowmark completed the take-private of the company from AIM in 2019, Tax Systems has doubled its revenue and profits. As a result of continued investment, the company has developed the industry’s leading, cloud-native, multi-tax technology platform. Most recently, it launched Pillar2, its AI-powered SaaS solution to address the complexities of the OECD’s global Pillar Two compliance and reporting.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Providence was advised by Arma Partners (M&A); White & Case and A&O Shearman (Legal); Plural Strategy (Commercial); FTI Consulting (Financial); RingStone (Technical); and EY (Tax).
Bowmark was advised by Houlihan Lokey (M&A); Stephenson Harwood and NautaDutilh (Legal); OC&C (Commercial) and Deloitte (Financial, Tax and Technology).
Tax Systems was advised by Arrowpoint Advisory (M&A) and Burness Paull (Legal).
Media contacts:
For Bowmark:
Jonathan Cook
[email protected]
+44 (0) 773 077 7865
For Providence:
Charlie Chichester / Rory King
[email protected]
+44 (0) 7917 086 227
About Bowmark Capital
Bowmark Capital (“Bowmark”) is a leading private equity investment firm specialising in technology, data and services companies. Established in 1997, Bowmark manages funds of over £2 billion and has made more than 50 investments. Bowmark’s focus is on four core areas of the technology sector: data and insight, managed IT services, software, and technology-enabled business services. The firm invests up to £300 million per transaction through majority or significant minority stakes in companies with compelling growth prospects, that are seeking a supportive, value-added partner to help them realise their ambitions. With our strategic support and capital, we work in partnership with management teams to accelerate growth and build exceptional businesses. Bowmark Capital LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Find out more at www.bowmark.com and LinkedIn.
About Providence
Providence Equity Partners is a specialist private equity investment firm focused on growth-oriented media, communications, education and technology companies across North America and Europe. Providence combines its partnership approach to investing with deep industry expertise to help management teams build exceptional businesses and generate attractive returns. Since its founding in 1989, Providence has invested over $38 billion across more than 180 private equity portfolio companies. With its headquarters in Providence, RI, the firm also has offices in New York, London, Boston and Atlanta. For more information, please visit www.provequity.com.
