A Win-Win For HGGC and Serena Software

03.12.2014

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The picture below just about sums up how the HGGC and Serena teams and I were feeling right after we announced the ownership change at Serena Software – sheer excitement for what’s to come.  As you may have read earlier in the week in a press release, private equity firm HGGC and I have partnered to acquire Serena.  The deal brings me full circle.Serena HGGC selfie

I founded Serena Consulting in 1980 with the express purpose of being a contract programmer at Bank of America in San Francisco.  It was just me.  I had no large aspirations other than making a living but then I got the urge to enhance this little utility I had written previously to compare files.  I found that many wanted to use it.  That was the kernel of knowledge I needed to take the idea of writing software for the masses.  That utility was Comparex and it funded the company, renamed Serena Software, for hiring people and developing other products.  We did NOT need venture capital.

We took the company public in 1999 and Silver Lake Partners took us private in 2006.  Now that I have the opportunity to buy the company back with the assistance of HGGC, I am thrilled to play a larger role in the company strategy.  Our CEO, Greg Hughes, has streamlined the company to put our expenses in line with revenue.  We are now positioned to focus on the people and products that will put us into growth mode over the coming years.  HGGC is just down Highway 101 from us.  I have high hopes this will be a win-win situation for both companies.  Below is a picture of the HGGC and Serena management teams.

Pictured, from left to right: Steve Young (HGGC), Carl Landers (Serena), Ali Kheirolomoom (Serena), Steven Leistner (HGGC), Hudson Smith (HGGC), Greg Hughes (Serena), Doug Troxel (Serena founder), Bob Pender (Serena), Farouk Hussein (HGGC), Ed Malysz (Serena), Kevin Biggs (Serena), Rich Lawson (HGGC)

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