KPA Spins Off Operations with Newly Formed Company, Novara

KPA has spun off its Flex and Risk Management Center (RMC) division into a separate new entity, Novara.

The official announcement on January 27 is the result of years of growth and investment following Providence Equity Partners L.L.C.'s purchase of a majority ownership of KPA in 2018.

“When Providence bought the business, they had a vision of taking the environmental health and safety expertise and experience of [KPA] and extending it beyond auto into other high-risk industries like manufacturing and construction and energy,” says Michael Bruns, who has been named CEO of Novara. Bruns joined KPA back in 2019 and served as CFO before being tapped as CEO of KPA in September 2025. “For the last six years, we’ve executed on their vision.”

Bruns explained to EHS Today that during that time, they essentially operated as two companies under one roof.

“We had two completely separate software platforms, two completely separate sales and marketing teams,” he says. “The business that is now Novara had grown to a size where they were effectively equal. We felt that—despite having a lot of success with both businesses under one roof—there was an opportunity to unlock value and, through focus, provide a much better outcome for our customers at the end of the day by separating into two independent companies with their own executive team, their own board of directors, their own strategy, and their own opportunity to grow without competing with another business for investment resources.”

KPA will continue to focus, as it has for the past 40 years, on providing EHS and compliance solutions for the automotive industry, including dealerships and collision centers. Wayne Curtis, who was vice president of field services at KPA, has been named CEO of the company.

The newly formed Novara will operate as a software company focused on safety management and operational risk management in high-risk industries, including manufacturing, construction, utilities, and oil and gas. Novara will continue to serve its  Flex platform customers.

Bruns says there will be no impact in the near term for how customers interact with the Flex software or the team. However, he says the spin off will allow for future improvements to the user experience, and he's excited about a couple things in particular.

“Number one is really to serve that customer base with a lot more focus,” he says. “We’ve spent the last couple of months prior to this separation really thinking about our product strategy and how we can move faster to deliver more and more features to our customers.

“Number two is AI and the integration of AI functionality into Flex,” he says, adding Novara has plans to roll out additional features throughout the year. “AI is a disruptive technology, but for us we see it as an enabler of certain functionality that we would not otherwise be able to provide our customers.”

Providence Equity Partners LLC retains majority ownership of KPA and Novara.