Repositioning Businesses

CIN was founded in 1998 as an information services provider to the mortgage industry. In 2003, CIN’s founders recognized an opportunity to serve the consumer bankruptcy market, and began a transition to offer data services to consumer bankruptcy attorneys. CIN’s founders had created a business well positioned for the growth in consumer bankruptcy filings that resulted from the 2008 financial crisis. After several years of CIN’s strong performance, annual consumer bankruptcies peaked at about 1.5 million filings in 2010, then steadily decreased as the economy recovered. In light of the changing landscape for consumer bankruptcies and the players that were then serving this niche market, in 2008, the founders decided to pursue a recapitalization and sought a financial partner to assist with accelerating business growth in the consumer bankruptcy market. CIN retained a middle-market investment bank with which Sentinel has a strong and longstanding relationship. Sentinel prevailed in an auction that included a limited group of prospective private equity buyers.

To help CIN transform its product offering and, in the process, capture a substantial share of its market through both acquisition and new product development

Completed Several Transformative Acquisitions: CIN significantly expanded its suite of services by acquiring eight competing and complementary businesses, including bankruptcy filing software providers, bankruptcy-specific data and information services providers, and niche products that enhanced CIN’s existing service offerings. In its most transformative add-on, CIN acquired Best Case from Wolters Kluwer. CIN then fully integrated its product suite with Best Case’s best-in-class electronic forms preparation and filing software, providing significant value to customers.

Developed New Products, Including Next-Generation Cloud-Based Workflow Solution: CIN developed several new products, including an innovative cloud-based workflow solution based on its core electronic forms preparation and filing software product.

During our ownership, CIN grew into the clear market leader for products and services that facilitate smooth and efficient filings for its more than 17,000 consumer bankruptcy attorney customers nationwide. In 2019, after holding the investment for more than 10 years and achieving our investment objectives, we sold CIN to Stretto, a private equity-owned company that provides software, data, and financial service products to bankruptcy trustees.