Q1 2020 Software Industry Trends

Software transaction volume saw a one percent uptick over the past three months, from 570 to 576. Aggregate value declined eight percent, from $41.9 billion to $38.7 billion, returning to its Q3 2019 level.

The Infrastructure segment experienced a 14 percent volume increase on a quarterly basis, making it the highest growth sector in Q1 2020. In terms of value, three of the industry’s top five largest deals year-to-date occurred in the segment. Along these lines were Insight Venture Partners’ acquisition of Veeam Software, a cloud-focused backup and disaster recovery services provider, for $5 billion; a Symphony Technology Group led consortium’s announced acquisition of Dell Technologies’ RSA Security business for $2.1 billion; and Advent International and Crosspoint Capital Partners’ announced acquisition of ForeScout Technologies, which develops device visibility, control, and cybersecurity solutions, for $1.7 billion.

Deal volume in the “Niche Software” segment, which is targeted to specific vertical markets, improved two percent over Q4 2019. This was the sector’s third consecutive quarterly rise in deal flow. Three of the industry’s top ten largest transactions took place in the segment, including two in the Finance vertical: Visa’s announced acquisition of Plaid Technologies, which develops and creates API’s for banking data, for $5.3 billion; and True Wind Capital’s announced acquisition of Open Lending, which delivers lending enablement and risk analytics solutions to financial institutions, for $1.3 billion.

M&A activity in the Business segment, which consists of software designed for general business practices and not specific industry markets, decreased six percent from Q4 2019 to Q1 2020. The segment’s largest deal year-to-date was Cornerstone OnDemand’s announced acquisition of Saba Software, which provides cloud-based intelligent talent management solutions. for $1.4 billion. Regarding the Consumer segment, the number of deals remained about constant for the fourth consecutive quarter.