Asure Acquires HireClick

When is the right time to sell your company? According to Scott Peterson former co-founder of HireClick, "If you begin to get the feeling that it's time to sell, especially if you're getting interest from serious buyers, it's probably the right time to do it." HIRECLICK is a company that offers a SaaS-based all-in-one AI-powered software solution that streamlines the recruitment process for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). With the assistance of Corum Group, the company was acquired in July 2024 by Asure Software, a leading provider of cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) software solutions.

Initial interest from buyers

Peterson and Richard Abild started HireClick in 2015. The company evolved from a previous company that Peterson and Abild founded in 2005 called Classified Verticals, which provided employment advertising programs for traditional media companies. HIRECLICK was small but profitable. It had a loyal customer base, mostly SMBs in a variety of industries throughout the U.S. Midwest, and a good growth rate.

By 2022, Peterson was getting interest from prospective buyers about selling the company. Some of it he felt was serious interest. So he decided to get educated about the M&A process. To do that he enrolled in some educational offerings, including a number of in-person seminars and online webinars offered by Corum, which Peterson attended over the course of late 2022 and early 2023. Peterson recalls, "I was able to find out about resources and really learn about what was going on in the market. It was great.”

But that time was also one of real soul searching for Peterson and Abild about whether they really wanted to sell the company. "If I look back," remembers Peterson, "the interest was coming for about a year and a half. And over that time we really stressed about the decision. Is it the right time to sell? Should we try to do this on our own? We took far too long to make the decision.”

Ultimately, Peterson and Abild decided to go to market. However, they realized they needed help. "The more that those inbound calls came in from buyers," says Peterson, "the more it told us that if we're going to get serious about this we needed assistance from a professional." So in late 2022, Peterson approached Corum.

Working with Corum

Corum provided Peterson and Abild with the disciplined M&A process that they needed to get an optimal deal. A key element of that process is Corum's global search of buyers backed by their proprietary buyer database ‒ the largest buyer information database in the industry. The search identifies multiple PE and strategic buyers and ultimately creates an auction environment where those buyers contend for the deal. Corum's process attracted 50 interested companies, 20 of whom were very serious in acquiring HIRECLICK. Ultimately, five made offers, one of them being Asure Software.

Asure was looking to enhance its HCM solution suite. They viewed HIRECLICK's easy-to-use, AI-based applicant tracking system (ATS) as a perfect addition -- a more efficient and accessible talent acquisition solution than they currently offered.

In turn, Peterson and Abild viewed Asure Software as a perfect partner, a larger company in a complementary market. They saw it as a company that provided an especially good fit for HIRECLICK's products and services, and a place where they could leverage Asure's larger customer base to significantly accelerate their market access. They also viewed Asure as offering enhanced opportunities for their employees. In addition, Asure's offer was generous from a financial perspective and included long-term employment agreements as well as stock provisions for Peterson and Abild. So they accepted Asure's offer. The deal closed on July 11, 2024

Looking back on his experience with Corum, Peterson says, "It would have been extremely difficult for us to garner the attention of Asure Software without the professional process that Corum provides."

With the deal, Peterson, Abild, and their HIRECLICK employees were absorbed into Asure. The team continues to work at the same location, but now as part of the Asure Software organization. The transition according to Peterson has been very positive. After just three months, HIRECLICK multiplied the number of its clients sixfold. Peterson also notes that he and Abild now have the luxury of seeing things from a wider perspective. He puts it this way: "We're both involved in the company that acquired us on a full-time basis. But now we can step out and focus on the things that could really improve the business."

Advice to sellers

Asked what advice he would give CEOs interested in selling their company, Peterson stresses the importance of putting themselves in the buyer's mindset. His recommendation: "As you get into the process, try as much as you can to think like an acquiring company. Be prepared. Get the metrics and measurements that buyers will want to see. Have that information ready when buyers want it. The more prepared you are going into the process, the faster you're going to get to an optimal end game."

Looking toward the future

With the sale of his company, Peterson is looking forward to more quality personal time. He says, "Our children will be out of the house next year. It's going to open up a lot of doors for my wife and me. I'm really anxious to do more traveling and just explore the things that I could not when I was really involved in the business.” He is also enthusiastic about future business opportunities. "I'm 53 years old,” he says, "I feel like there's a really blank whiteboard in trying to map this out. So we'll see. I don't have a clear path as to what the next thing is, but I'm really excited to go dive into it. "