Gridiron Capital Announces Sale of Engage2Excel

NEW CANAAN, CT, March 8, 2018 – Gridiron Capital, LLC (“Gridiron Capital”), a private investment firm, is pleased to announce the sale of Engage2Excel (“E2E”), a leading provider of employee recognition, sales incentives, talent acquisition and consumer loyalty solutions and services. Headquartered in Statesville, North Carolina, E2E’s solutions focus on attracting, retaining, and engaging both employees and customers to increase productivity and profitability. E2E maintains relationships across a diversified client base ranging from Fortune 100 companies to small and medium-sized businesses.

Gridiron Capital originally invested in E2E in 2010 and built on E2E’s employee engagement product portfolio. Under Gridiron Capital’s stewardship, E2E completed transformative add-on acquisitions, augmented its management team and sales force, introduced numerous new solutions, expanded its intellectual property portfolio, and diversified its customer base.

Gridiron Capital Co-Founder and Managing Partner Tom Burger said, “We are extremely proud to have grown and transformed E2E into an industry leading employee and consumer engagement services business. The E2E team performed well and delivered healthy and positive returns to all stakeholders. Personally, it was extremely rewarding to have successfully partnered with the E2E team and we’re confident that they will continue to build on their success.”

Phil Stewart, CEO of E2E, remarked that, “Under Gridiron’s partnership, we have grown all aspects of our business, built upon our strong company culture and have very positive momentum that will continue to drive the business forward. E2E has benefitted from Gridiron’s financial and operational direction that they have provided during our partnership. We look forward to continuing to grow the business with our next partner.”

Owen Tharrington, Managing Director of Gridiron Capital and Board member of E2E stated, “We’ve enjoyed working with and helping the E2E management team grow throughout the time of our partnership. E2E is well positioned to continue to be the leader in the employee and customer engagement markets. We are confident that the Company and the management team will enjoy future success with their new partner.”

E2E was advised by Lincoln International, Robert W. Baird, and Moore & Van Allen.