September 14, 2007
By Jim Stafford, The Oklahoman
Virgo Capital has doubled its portfolio of technology-based companies by buying a majority stake in California based iProfile, a "business intelligence" research firm, officials said Thursday in Oklahoma City. Terms of the transaction were not released.Virgo Capital was created in 2006 as a private equity company, raising about $50 million for its Virgo Capital Fund I LP, said Hemanth Parasuram, managing partner.Virgo Capital has targeted mature, technology-related companies for investment opportunities and made its first purchase in June when it bought a majority interest in Oklahoma City-based Accord Human Resources.With iProfile, Virgo has added a company with offices in Palo Alto, Calif., and London that packages information about the IT departments of some of the largest companies in the United States and Europe. It sells that information through a subscription service to sales and marketing organizations targeting the sector."This is becoming a bit of a sweet spot for us, companies that are around 15 years old," Parasuram said. "Basically, what these guys provide are really in-depth profiles of the IT organizations of large Fortune 500 companies."iProfile is a 14-year old business that was owned by Elias Zelkha and his family, Parasuram said. Zelkha is president and chief executive officer."We are excited about our partnership with Virgo Capital," Zelkha said in a news release. "The Virgo team has a proven track record of adding value to companies such as ours. The investment will help fund a major new research center as well as our forthcoming Fortune 2000 and Asia-Profile products."Virgo Capital will begin a search for a new president of iProfile; Zelkha will remain as CEO, Parasuram said.More deals may lie ahead. The Oklahoma City company will continue to look at other investment opportunities, Parasuram said."Through this first fund, we will have four to six portfolio companies," he said. "We are definitely looking at a number of other opportunities."Parasuram and partner Guhan Swaminathan organized Virgo Capital in 2006 and attracted investment from some of Oklahoma City's leading business executives, including energy executive Aubrey McClendon through McClendon Venture Co. and banking executive Jeff Records through Records Private Equity.With two companies now in its investment portfolio, Virgo Capital has become a definite asset for Oklahoma City's financial market, said Bob Rader, senior vice president at Capital West Securities.
