Boss Insights - Tech M&A Round Up - 6th November 2020

Coupa Acquires AI-Powered Supply Chain Design and Planning Company LLamasoft for $1.5 Billion
San Mateo, California – 2nd  November 2020 - Coupa Software, a Business Spend Management (BSM) speicalist, has announced that it has acquired LLamasoft, an AI-powered supply chain design and planning company, for a purchase price of approximately $1.5 billion. Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., LLamasoft’s technology is used by hundreds of enterprise customers, including brands such as Boeing, Danone S.A., Home Depot, and Nestle. The acquisition will strengthen Coupa’s supply chain capabilities, enabling businesses to drive greater value through Business Spend Management. Chairman and CEO at Coupa, Rob Bernshteyn, said: “We are witnessing an unprecedented shift in what businesses are demanding to effectively manage their supply chains. They need instant visibility, agile planning capabilities, and timely risk mitigation support. LLamasoft’s deep supply chain expertise and sophisticated data science and modeling capabilities, combined with the roughly $2 trillion of cumulative transactional spend data we have in Coupa, will empower businesses with the intelligence needed to pivot on a dime. Together, we will deliver a more powerful Business Spend Management platform to help organizations everywhere maximize the value of every dollar they spend in a smarter, simpler, and safer way.”
https://www.coupa.com/newsworthy/press-releases/coupa-acquires-ai-powered-supply-chain-design-and-planning-leader-llamasoft-broadening-its-leadership-in-business-spend-management/

Descartes Acquires ShipTrack
Waterloo, Ontario – 6th November 2020 - Descartes Systems Group, a global company specialising in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, has announced that it has acquired ShipTrack, a provider of ecommerce final-mile solutions. Headquartered in Canada, ShipTrack provides cloud-based mobile resource management and shipment tracking solutions. These solutions help customers automate dispatch, updates on shipment status and estimated time of arrival (ETA) and eliminate paper-based delivery processes. Co-founder of ShipTrack and now VP Mobility Solutions at Descartes, Shawn Winter, commented: “The challenge for today’s final-mile carriers is how to handle increasing volumes alongside rising consumer expectations for delivery choice and real-time information. Our platform helps final-mile carriers meet that challenge head-on with powerful workflows across delivery processes and the ability to expose information to consumers in real-time. By joining forces with Descartes, we see an opportunity to create a truly differentiated product that combines our advanced final-mile solutions with Descartes route optimization and reservations capabilities.”
https://www.descartes.com/home

Intel acquires Israeli startup Convrg.io to automate machine learning
Santa Clara, California - 4th November 2020 - Intel has acquired Israeli start up, Convrg.io, to build and run machine learning models. Intel’s recent move to procure Convrg.io is a one step closer to developing an improvised machine learning platform for the end user. This is Intel’s second acquisition in a week – On 29th October Intel also acquired San Francisco-based SigOpt, provider of a platform for the optimization of artificial intelligence (AI) software models at scale. Intel Senior Vice President, Chief Architect and General Manager of the Architecture, Graphics and Software (IAGS) Group, Raja Koduri, commented: “In the new intelligence era, AI is driving the compute needs of the future. It is even more important for software to automatically extract the best compute performance while scaling AI models. SigOpt’s AI software platform and data science talent will augment Intel software, architecture, product offerings and teams, and provide us with valuable customer insights. We welcome the SigOpt team and its customers to the Intel family.”
https://newsroom.intel.com/news/intel-to-acquire-sigopt-to-scale-ai-productivity-and-performance/#gs.k69wif

SitusAMC Expands CRE Technology Offerings with Acquisition of rSquared
New York, NY – 3rd November 2020 – SitusAMC Holdings Corp, a prominent provider of innovative technologies and expert-led services to the real estate finance industry, has acquired commercial real estate technology provider rSquared CRE, LLC. The acquisition adds rSquared’s valuation, underwriting and asset management software, rDCF and budgeting and reforecasting software, rBudget, to SitusAMC’s rapidly growing suite of commercial and residential technology offerings. The rSquared management team will be retained by SitusAMC, and will support the integration of the rSquared brand, products and employees into the SitusAMC technology group. SitusAMC CEO Michael Franco said, “The acquisition of rSquared furthers our commitment to provide a consolidated and integrated view of commercial real estate transactions from underwriting the original investment through eventual disposition. rDCF and rBudget are innovative technologies that, when combined with our existing technology product suite, uniquely position SitusAMC to bring our clients unparalleled options while realizing opportunities and managing data across the lifecycle of their commercial real estate activity.” Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
https://www.situsamc.com/news/situsamc-expands-cre-technology-offerings-acquisition-rsquared

Digital Realty Company, Interxion, Acquires Lamda Hellix, Establishes Presence in Greece
Amsterdam - 3rd November 2020 - Interxion, a Digital Realty company and a European provider of carrier- and cloud-neutral colocation data centre solutions, has announced it has acquired Lamda Hellix, a colocation and interconnection provider in south-eastern Europe.  The acquisition provides Digital Realty access to one of the region's fastest-growing markets and a gateway to an increasingly important connectivity hub. With more than 700 connectivity providers in over 280 data centres across 24 countries, the acquisition bolsters Interxion's and Digital Realty's global footprint.  It also reflects Digital Realty's continued investment in PlatformDIGITAL®, the company's global data centre platform supporting customers around the world as they navigate digital transformation strategies and the complexities of rapidly growing demand, the need for global coverage and additional capacity. 
https://investor.digitalrealty.com/news-and-events/news/press-release-details/2020/Interxion-A-Digital-Realty-Company-Establishes-Presence-In-Greece-With-Acquisition-Of-Lamda-Hellix/default.aspx

Ping Identity to Acquire Symphonic Software to Accelerate Dynamic Authorization for Enterprises Pursuing Zero Trust Identity Security
Denver – 2nd November 2020 - Ping Identity Holding Corp, the Intelligent Identity solution for the enterprise, has announced that it has acquired Symphonic Software, specialists in dynamic authorization for protecting APIs, data, apps and resources through identity. Dynamic authorization gives IT teams ultimate flexibility to control what users can see and do, enabling enterprises to more easily prevent fraud, improve cybersecurity, and comply with regulations.  “With increasing data privacy regulations, users are demanding that enterprises give them better digital experiences with more transparency and control,” said Andre Durand, CEO and Founder of Ping Identity. “The acquisition of Symphonic accelerates our vision for enterprises to not only maintain security and compliance with confidence, but to easily deliver personalized, trustworthy experiences.”
https://www.pingidentity.com/en/company/press-releases-folder/2020/symphonicsoft.html

Twilio Completes Acquisition of Segment Customer Data Platform for $3.2 Billion
San Francisco – 2nd November 2020 – Cloud communications platform, Twilio, has announced the successful completion of its previously announced acquisition of customer data platform, Segment. The transaction is valued at approximately $3.2 billion in Twilio Class A common stock, on a fully diluted and cash free, debt free basis. "Nearly every company is focused on acquiring, retaining and growing their customer relationships through digital engagement," said Jeff Lawson, co-founder and CEO of Twilio. "However, the biggest impediment to great digital engagement are the data silos that prevent companies from truly understanding their customers. With the addition of Segment, Twilio's Customer Engagement Platform now enables companies to both understand their customer and engage with them digitally -- the combination is key to building great digital experiences." Segment will become a division of Twilio and will continue to be led by Segment CEO Peter Reinhardt, reporting to Lawson.
https://www.twilio.com/press/releases/twilio-completes-acquisition-segment-market-leading-customer-data-platform

Restore Technology Acquires E Recycling Limited
Bristol, UK – 2nd November 2020 - UK document management company, commercial relocation and IT recycling business, Restore plc, is pleased to announce that it has acquired 100% of the share capital of E Recycling Limited, a high security IT Asset Destruction (ITAD) business based in Bristol, UK. Restore Technology, one of Restore's more recently developed business units, has grown rapidly to become one of the largest IT recycling and asset disposal businesses in the UK. The addition of Euro Recycling will enhance further the Group's strong position in this rapidly growing market and will provide increased access to a number of strategic sales channels and strengthen Restore's national coverage for high security asset destruction.  Euro Recycling has a strong mix of strategic IT channel partner relationships and direct to customer contracts and the acquisition is in line with the strategy to grow Restore Technology through evolution of product capability, channel partnerships and provision of consistent and high quality national coverage.
https://tools.eurolandir.com/tools/Pressreleases/GetPressRelease/?ID=3835133&lang=en-GB&companycode=uk-mvw&v=redesign

Denver – 30th October 2020 - Provider of cloud-based citizen engagement technologies and services, Granicus, has announced the acquisition of Calytera from BuildGroup. Calytera’s extensive experience delivering global permitting, compliance and licensing (PCL) automation, best practices and workflows will significantly expand Granicus’ digital service capabilities for the public sector. Announcing the acquisition, CEO of Granicus, Mark Hynes, said: “This year, we’ve witnessed first-hand how digitization enables agile, resilient public sector organizations to address some of our nation’s most pressing challenges. As the role of governments as digital service providers continues to evolve, it’s become essential that they leverage flexible platforms that allow for the creation and delivery of services for rapidly changing needs. With Calytera’s unmatched PCL and FOI expertise, we will accelerate the digitization of government processes to help agencies continuously deliver and modify services that meet the dynamic needs of their communities.”
https://granicus.com/blog/granicus-acquires-calytera-and-what-it-means-for-you/

Harris Acquires UK-based Maternity Ward Software Provider K2 Medical Systems
Ottawa, ON - 27th October 2020 - Harris, a global vertical market software provider and acquirer, has acquired K2 Medical Systems Holdings Limited (K2 Medical Systems), a UK-based company providing specialized maternity ward software solutions to international markets. This acquisition adds a significant international foundation to the Harris healthcare group and its expansion into the maternity sector, building upon its recent acquisition of Meridian Health Informatics in Australia. Harris Healthcare Group President, Jerry Canada comments: “K2 Medical Systems has expanded considerably since its inception over twenty years ago, and we look forward to entering a new stage of growth together.” K2 Medical Systems offers support at each stage of the pregnancy journey with a suite of software solutions, including electronic health records, labour and delivery risk reduction, fetal and blood pressure monitoring systems, and interactive e-learning perinatal training programs. K2 Medical Systems will maintain its autonomy and Dr. Robert Keith will continue to lead the business as Executive Vice President.
https://www.harriscomputer.com/en/news/?date=1603771200&article=harris-acquires-uk-based-maternity-ward-software-provider-k2-medical-systems

 

06 November 2020
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