2020-10-01 Berkery Noyes Releases Software Industry M&A Report For Third Quarter 2020

NEW YORK — October 1, 2020 — Berkery Noyes, an independent mid-market investment bank, today released its third quarter 2020 mergers and acquisitions trend report for the Software Industry. The report analyzes M&A activity during the three-month period and compares it with data for the previous six quarters.

Total volume increased by 25 percent on a quarterly basis. Aggregate value more than quadrupled during this timeframe, from $14.0 billion to $62.8 billion. Upon further examination of value, four of the top five largest deals thus far in 2020 occurred in the third quarter.

In terms of “Niche Software,” which is targeted to specific vertical industries, volume increased 31 percent over the second quarter. Notable deals in the segment’s Finance vertical during the third quarter included Intercontinental Exchange’s announced acquisition of Ellie Mae, a cloud-based platform provider for the mortgage finance industry, for $11 billion; Roper Technologies’ acquisition of Vertafore, which offers cloud-based property and casualty (“P&C”) software, for $5.4 billion; and Black Knight’s announced acquisition of Optimal Blue, a digital mortgage marketplace that connects lenders, investors, and providers with secondary marketing solutions, for $1.8 billion.

M&A activity in the Business segment, which consists of software designed for general business practices and not specific vertical industries, increased 34 percent over the second quarter. Notable third quarter Business segment deals included RWS Holdings’ acquisition of SDL International, an intelligent language and content company that helps create, translate and deliver content globally, for $1.1 billion; and Zebra Technologies Corporation’s acquisition of Reflexis Systems, a provider of intelligent workforce management, execution, and communication solutions for organizations in the retail, food service, hospitality and banking sectors, for $575 million.

Transaction volume in the Infrastructure segment saw a 21 percent increase over the second quarter. Notable segment deals in the third quarter included AVEVA’s announced acquisition of OSIsoft, which offers industrial operational data software and services, for $5 billion; and Ivanti’s announced acquisition of MobileIron, the mobile-centric security platform, for $872 million.

A copy of the SOFTWARE INDUSTRY M&A REPORT FOR THIRD QUARTER 2020 is available at the Berkery Noyes website.