Silicon Valley private equity firm acquires Auburn Hills’ Plex Systems

Silicon Valley-based private equity firm Francisco Partners has acquired Auburn Hills-based tech firm Plex Systems. Francisco Partners focuses on tech firms and was attracted to Plex Systems status as an early mover in the cloud ERP market. Plex Systems’ flagship product, Plex Online, is a shop-floor-to-top-floor solution for manufacturers in the automotive, aerospace, defense, food and beverage and electronics industries. "They feel that our current growth model is good," says Mark Symonds, CEO of Plex Systems. "Just sustaining that would be terrific. There are a lot of things we could do to step up our growth." The 17-year-old company employs 250 people and a handful of interns after hiring 50 people in the last year. It has expanded it reach around the world in recent years, including previously being held by a private equity firm based in London. The new investment from Francisco Partners will help broaden the company's base of expertise. "Expanding our knowledge base beyond the Midwest helps," Symonds says. "We are best known in the Midwest. We want to expand our presence to the west coast and around the world. Source: Mark Symonds, CEO of Plex Systems Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.