Ventiv Technology

However, as Ventiv CEO Kathy Burns, writes, this was a process that she and eSolutions management advocated and led. Burns tells how and why it all happened, and what it means for customers. The short story: it's a very positive development for Ventiv and its customers. On September 4, the creation of Ventiv Technology was announced. formerly known as Aon eSolutions, Ventiv Technology has a new owner/ investor: the private-equity firm Symphony Technology Group. ? HOW DID AON eSOLUTIONS BECOME VENTIV TECHNOLOGY ... We considered a wide range of ways to get eSolutions to the place it needed to be in terms of our investment and management model, including remaining within Aon but with a different approach to fostering the growth of our business. In the end, eSolutions and Aon leadership came to the decision that both companies—Aon and eSolutions—could better serve our customers' current and future needs with the backing of a new investor—an investor with experience in and an understanding of the technology market. So Aon put eSolutions up for sale early this year. There was tremendous interest in eSolutions from the market. I was really gratified by the high number of serious bidders who took part in the process. For one thing, the bidders validated our current five-year strategic growth plan (initiated in 2011); we were happy that independent sources agreed that we are on the right track. Second, we heard from numerous bidders that the kind of spinoff Aon wanted to make with eSolutions happens all the time. In other words, it's common for the technology units of large companies in a wide range of industries to "outgrow" their parent companies. And what's more, once technology units like us are spun off, they really soar. Throughout the process of finding a new investor/owner for eSolutions, our primary goal was to find an investor who understood us and our business and wanted to invest in us for accelerated growth. We performed exhaustive due diligence with a number of potential buyers and, in the end, eSolutions senior management and I selected Symphony Technology Group as our new owner/investor. Beginning in 1972, eSolutions was Aon's risk, insurance and safety technology business. eSolutions was the last of several names for Aon's tech- nology business, but Aon ownership and the focus on technology were constants. It's quite an under- statement to observe that the technology industry has changed profoundly between 1972 and today, but it's an important point to keep in mind when explaining why eSolutions set out to find a new owner. A particularly relevant change for eSolutions is that in recent years it's become increasingly challenging for large companies—companies for which technology is not a core business— to own and manage a technology unit. For most of eSolutions' existence as an Aon business, our being a unit of Aon was a very good business model. Aon recognized the need to provide its cus- tomers—as well as organizations that are not Aon customers — with technology solu- tions to help them manage their risk and insurance functions. Today, however, the market for risk and insurance technology is more competitive than ever. Moreover, there's more potential than ever before for technology firms to deliver value to risk and insurance managers. So, about two years ago, the eSolutions senior management team and I initiated discussions with Aon's leadership team about the future of eSolutions. Together, we determined that eSolutions needed to operate within a dif- ferent investment and management model. ? HOW DID WE FIND OUR NEW INVESTOR ... 10 | 3SIXTY º ////////////////////////////////// VENTIV TECHNOLOGY

• Cover