Medallia shakes hands on recapitalisation agreement with investor group led by Blackstone, Apollo, and KKR
Medallia, a specialist in customer and employee experiences, has entered into a recapitalisation agreement with its lenders that, it claims, will strengthen its financial foundation for long-term growth. The transaction will reduce its outstanding debt and provide $150 million of new capital. Upon completion, Medallia will change ownership from Thoma Bravo to an investor group led by Blackstone, Apollo, and FS KKR Capital Corp (FSK).
Thoma Bravo will lose all of the $5 billion it invested in Medallia when it took the company private in 2021. Its loss is the second largest in the private equity industry’s history, exceeded only by the collapse of Texas utility TXU.
Medallia was founded in 2001 and went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2019 before being taken private in 2021. Eighteen months ago, a new executive team joined and looked to reinvent the business for an AI first market, with a focus on modernising operations, and sharpening strategic focus while maintaining profitability.
“Today’s announcement marks a significant milestone towards the next generation of AI led enterprise experience management,” says Mark Bishof, CEO at Medallia. “The transformation of Medallia has been well underway - what changes today is the pace. With a strengthened balance sheet and $150 million in new capital, we are accelerating our commitment to invest over $500 million in products and services for our customers over the next few years.”
“Medallia is a profitable business with a strong track record serving many of the largest companies in the world,” says Brad Marshall, Global Head of Private Credit Strategies at Blackstone. “We’re confident in the business under this new capital structure and look forward to supporting its plans to invest in this next phase of innovation and growth.”
The company expects to close the transaction prior to the end of the year, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals. It says that operations remain uninterrupted, with no anticipated impact or disruption to the company’s customers, employees, or partners.
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
