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52.5625rem;--wp--custom--content--width--article-wide: 74.1875rem;--wp--custom--content--width--site-header: 77.19rem;--wp--custom--content--width--author-archive: 85.69rem;--wp--custom--content--width--single-event-content: 85rem;--wp--custom--font--family--base: nb_international_proregular, sans-serif;--wp--custom--font--family--secondary: "yellix", sans-serif;--wp--custom--font--family--mono: nb_international_promono, sans-serif;--wp--custom--font--lh--1: 1;--wp--custom--font--lh--1-1: 1.1;--wp--custom--font--lh--1-15: 1.15;--wp--custom--font--lh--1-2: 1.2;--wp--custom--font--lh--1-3: 1.3;--wp--custom--font--lh--1-4: 1.4;--wp--custom--font--line-height--01: var(--wp--custom--font--lh--1);--wp--custom--font--line-height--02: var(--wp--custom--font--lh--1-1);--wp--custom--font--line-height--03: var(--wp--custom--font--lh--1-15);--wp--custom--font--line-height--04: var(--wp--custom--font--lh--1-2);--wp--custom--font--line-height--05: 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wp-block-post-content-is-layout-constrained"><p id="speakable-summary"><strong>Exclusive –</strong> The founding team of <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/livechatsoftware">LiveChat</a>, which <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/product/livechat">delivers</a> real-time <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.livechatinc.com/">software</a> and web analytics solutions for e-commerce sales and support teams, has completed a management buy-out to regain control over the company, TechCrunch has learned. The founders were looking to get back a controlling equity stake in the company, and teamed up with PE firm <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tarheelcap.com/">Tar Heel Capital</a> to acquire a 60% stake, effectively buying out investor <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/naspers">Naspers</a>, a massive South Africa-based media and investment group.</p> <p>LiveChat was initially founded in 2002 and claims to have been cash flow positive since last year. The company offers tools that helps website owners and publishers, primarily e-commerce companies, communicate with website visitors in real time (also see <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/liveperson">LivePerson</a>, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/clickdesk">ClickDesk</a> and others).</p> <div class="ad-unit ad-unit--desktop ad-unit--native wp-block-tc-ads-ad-slot"> <div class="ad-unit__ad" id="us-tc-ros-dt-native-midarticle" data-unitcode="us_tc_ros_dt_native_midarticle" data-sizes="["fluid"]" style="min-height:0px;min-width:0px;"> </div> </div> <div class="ad-unit ad-unit--mobile ad-unit--has-placeholder ad-unit--display wp-block-tc-ads-ad-slot has-background has-gray-100-background-color"> <div class="ad-unit__ad" id="us-tc-ros-mw-mid-center" data-unitcode="us_tc_ros_mw_mid_center" data-sizes="[[300,250],[3,2],[2,2]]" style="min-height:250px;min-width:300px;"> </div> </div> <p>LiveChat is available on the Web, as well as multiple mobile platforms including Android, iOS, Blackberry, and Windows Phone. The company says it currently serves more than 1,600 businesses of all sizes, including Adobe, Orange Telecom, ING, Better Business Bureau and Air Asia.</p> <p>A management buy-out (aka MBO) is a relatively uncommon financial transaction, so I asked the founders why they decided to take that route.</p> <p>They explained to me that, as its founding team, LiveChat management owned 40 percent of the company at the beginning of the year, but craved a controlling equity to be able to accelerate growth now that the business is profitable, and exert more control over the overall strategy.</p> <p>Naspers, which owned 60 percent of the entity, no longer owns any stake in the company today, as the founding team bought n additional 20 percent stake on top of their earlier stake. The transaction was funded by Polish PE firm Tar Heel Capital, which now owns 40 percent of LiveChat.</p> <p>The MBO process was started in January 2011, and Naspers agreed to sell their stake last June.</p><div class="marfeel-experience-inline-cta wp-block-tc23-marfeel-experience"> </div> <p>Mariusz Cieply, CEO of LiveChat, tells me he was inspired by Richard Branson’s <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/A-E/Branson-Richard-1950.html#ixzz1ahlhYJk7">management buy-out of Virgin</a> following the October 1987 stock market crash.</p> </div></p> <div class="wp-block-tc23-post-relevant-terms"> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Topics</p> <div class="tc23-post-relevant-terms__terms"> <a href="https://techcrunch.com/tag/livechat/" rel="tag">LiveChat</a><span class="tc23-post-relevant-terms__separator">, </span><a href="https://techcrunch.com/tag/livechat-inc/" rel="tag">LiveChat Inc</a><span class="tc23-post-relevant-terms__separator">, </span><a href="https://techcrunch.com/tag/livechat-software/" rel="tag">LiveChat Software</a><span class="tc23-post-relevant-terms__separator">, </span><a href="https://techcrunch.com/tag/naspers/" rel="tag">Naspers</a><span class="tc23-post-relevant-terms__separator">, </span><a href="https://techcrunch.com/tag/tar-heel-capital/" rel="tag">Tar Heel Capital</a><span class="tc23-post-relevant-terms__separator">, </span><a href="https://techcrunch.com/category/tc/" rel="tag">TC</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="wp-block-column article-sidebar is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis: 316px"> <div class="wp-block-group is-vertical is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex" style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-left:0;padding-right:0"> <div class="ad-unit ad-unit--mobile ad-unit--has-placeholder ad-unit--display wp-block-tc-ads-ad-slot has-background has-gray-100-background-color"> <div 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class="loop-card__title-link">Texas AG opens investigation into advertising group that Elon Musk sued for ‘boycotting’ X</a> </h3> <div class="loop-card__meta"> <ul class="loop-card__meta-item loop-card__author-list"> <li><a data-destinationLink="https://techcrunch.com/author/maxwell-zeff/" data-event="recirculation" data-module="Query" class="loop-card__author" href="https://techcrunch.com/author/maxwell-zeff/">Maxwell Zeff</a></li> </ul> <time datetime="2024-11-21T18:34:32-08:00" class="loop-card__meta-item loop-card__time wp-block-tc23-post-time-ago"> 1 day ago</time> </div> </div> </div> </div> </li><li class="wp-block-post post-2919328 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-artificial-intelligence category-tc tag-apple tag-in-brief tag-siri"> <div class="wp-block-techcrunch-card wp-block-null"> <div class="loop-card loop-card--post-type-post loop-card--default loop-card--vertical loop-card--wide loop-card--force-storyline-aspect-ratio loop-card--brief"> <figure class="loop-card__figure"> <img width="563" height="375" src="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CMC_7975.jpg?w=563" class="attachment-card-block-16x9 size-card-block-16x9 wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CMC_7975.jpg 4464w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CMC_7975.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CMC_7975.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CMC_7975.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CMC_7975.jpg?resize=680,453 680w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CMC_7975.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CMC_7975.jpg?resize=1280,853 1280w, https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CMC_7975.jpg?resize=430,287 430w, 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aria-hidden="true" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 16 16"><path fill="var(--c-svg, currentColor)" d="M10.206 7.292 6.208 3.293a1 1 0 0 0-1.416 0L.793 7.292a1 1 0 0 0 0 1.416l1.646 1.646-.94.939.708.707.94-.939 1.645 1.646a1 1 0 0 0 1.416 0l1.128-1.129-.708-.707-1.13 1.128L1.5 8.002l3.999-4 4 4-.75.749.708.707.75-.749a1 1 0 0 0 0-1.416Z"/><path fill="var(--c-svg, currentColor)" d="m15.206 7.292-1.645-1.646.939-.939L13.793 4l-.94.939-1.645-1.646a1 1 0 0 0-1.416 0L8.664 4.421l.707.707L10.5 4l4 4.001-4 3.998-4-3.997.75-.75-.708-.709-.749.75a1 1 0 0 0 0 1.416l3.999 3.998a1 1 0 0 0 1.416 0l3.998-3.998a1 1 0 0 0 0-1.416Z"/></svg> </div> <a data-destinationLink="https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/21/apple-is-reportedly-building-a-more-conversational-siri-powered-by-llms/" data-event="recirculation" data-module="Query" href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/21/apple-is-reportedly-building-a-more-conversational-siri-powered-by-llms/" class="loop-card__title-link">Apple is reportedly building a more conversational Siri powered by LLMs</a> </h3> <div class="loop-card__meta"> <ul class="loop-card__meta-item loop-card__author-list"> <li><a data-destinationLink="https://techcrunch.com/author/maxwell-zeff/" data-event="recirculation" data-module="Query" class="loop-card__author" href="https://techcrunch.com/author/maxwell-zeff/">Maxwell Zeff</a></li> </ul> <time datetime="2024-11-21T14:20:49-08:00" class="loop-card__meta-item loop-card__time wp-block-tc23-post-time-ago"> 2 days ago</time> </div> </div> </div> </div> </li></ul> </div> </div> </main> <footer class="wp-block-template-part"> <div class="wp-block-group wp-block-group--ads-footer alignfull is-vertical is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-15 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex" style="padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0"> <div class="ad-unit ad-unit--desktop ad-unit--has-placeholder ad-unit--display wp-block-tc-ads-ad-slot"> <div class="ad-unit__ad" 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