Access and Berkshire Partners Announce Strategic Partnership with GI Partners

LIVERMORE, CA, September 28, 2017 – Access, the largest privately held records and information management (RIM) services provider in the United States, announced today that it has received a strategic investment from GI Partners, a leading private investment firm. Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based investment firm, acquired Access in October 2014 and will remain a significant investor in the company.

Founded in 2004, Access offers a wide range of services and solutions that are tailored to meet the needs of local and international businesses, driving cost savings and ensuring compliance in today’s rapidly changing regulatory environment. Access serves small-to-medium businesses, as well as large enterprise clients, primarily in the U.S. and in Latin America with operations in more than 70 markets across six countries. The company’s offerings include secure storage, destruction, digital conversion, and other services for physical records and digital media, as well as a cloud-based SaaS platform for automating document workflows to increase efficiency and lower client’s risk profiles.

Rob Alston, Chief Executive Officer of Access, said, “Our clients trust Access for secure information management solutions. By expanding our partnership to include GI Partners, we gain access to additional resources to enhance our service offerings.” John Chendo, Access Co-Founder and President added, “We welcome GI as an investor and are eager to begin collaborating with their team as we build upon our momentum to grow our global footprint.”

“The Access team has driven remarkable growth and successfully positioned Access as a leader in the records and information management industry,” said EJ Whelan, a Managing Director at Berkshire Partners. “We look forward to working with GI to continue supporting the efforts of this talented team.”

Hoon Cho, Managing Director at GI Partners said, “We have known Rob, John, and Berkshire for many years and are excited to begin this partnership with Access and Berkshire that will support the company’s impressive growth and accelerate its ongoing success as a global RIM leader. We are very impressed by the strong customer focus and remarkable results already generated by the Access and Berkshire teams. We look forward to committing GI’s resources to further enhancing Access’ leadership in information management.”

Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Deutsche Bank acted as financial advisor and Ropes & Gray acted as legal advisor to Berkshire Partners. Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal advisor to GI Partners.

About Access
Access is the largest privately-held RIM services provider in the United States and Latin America. Access’ complete suite of services includes records storage and document management in both hard copy and digital formats, data protection, secure destruction, digital document conversion and data breach reporting services as well as FileBRIDGE, Access’ cloud based platform for the automation of document workflows and business processes. The valuable business services that Access provides allow clients to focus on their core businesses while reducing the costs and risks associated with document retention, management, convenient access, and final disposition. For more information on Access, please visit www.informationprotected.com.

About Berkshire Partners
Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based investment firm, has made over 115 investments since its founding in 1986 and has raised nine private equity funds with more than $16 billion in aggregate capital commitments. Berkshire has developed industry experience in several areas including consumer and retail, communications, business services, industrials and healthcare. Berkshire has a strong history of partnering with management teams to grow the companies in which it invests with the goal of consistently achieving superior investment returns. For additional information, visit www.berkshirepartners.com.

About GI Partners
GI Partners is a leading private investment firm based in San Francisco. The firm has raised $16 billion in capital through private equity and real estate strategies from recognized institutional investors across the globe. GI Partners' private equity team is active in several sectors, including IT Infrastructure, Healthcare, Software, and Services. For more information on GI Partners and its entire portfolio, please visit www.gipartners.com.