By Laura Kreutzer

Technology services-focused Sunstone Partners is betting that it can strike gold twice with a bet on the growth of enterprise software platform ServiceNow.

The San Mateo, Calif.-based private-equity firm has acquired Cerna Solutions, Evergreen Systems and Novo/Scale, three consulting firms that work with businesses that use ServiceNow Inc. software. Sunstone plans to combine the three into one business, according to a press release.

Over time, the firm may invest a total of as much as $100 million in the new company, which will be devoted to working with clients that use ServiceNow programs, according to Mike Biggee, a managing director who co-founded Sunstone.

ServiceNow's cloud-based software helps companies manage their digital operations across areas such as information technology services, including employees and customer relations. The platform started out in 2012 focused exclusively on technology operations but over the years has grown as it has broadened its focus. In a recent analyst research note, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicted that ServiceNow would generate more than $15 billion of revenue by 2026.

The deal marks the second time that Sunstone's team has bet on companies whose business models are built around ServiceNow software.

Before leaving Trident Capital to launch their own firm, Sunstone's co-founders in 2012 had backed Fruition Partners, an early ServiceNow partner when its focus was exclusively on information technology workflow. The firm sold Fruition in 2015 to Computer Sciences Corp., now part of DXC Technology Co.

The group that Sunstone is building with its latest acquisitions will focus exclusively on working with enterprise clients who use ServiceNow's software, which will differentiate the business from some larger global companies that offer products and services tied to a number of different software platforms, including ServiceNow.

"They're not pure plays," Mr. Biggee said of those larger companies. "They have multiple platforms to invest in and grow, so they have this competitive mishmash of products they manage and implement."

Sunstone's latest deal aligns with the firm's overarching strategy of building services companies that combine the human touch with cloud-based technology, according to Mr. Biggee.

In recent years, the firm has backed other technology-enabled services businesses, including a 2020 investment in Cloudbakers LLC, which focuses on Google cloud and Zoho software applications, and the creation of Avertium, a technology-enabled services company focused on cybersecurity, in 2019.

Mr. Biggee formed Sunstone in 2015 along with co-founders and Managing Directors Gus Alberelli, John Moragne and Arneek Multani. The firm has raised two funds, the most recent of which closed in 2019 with $475 million.

Write to Laura Kreutzer at laura.kreutzer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-26-21 0744ET