goetzpartners advised KKR-backed SoftwareOne on the acquisition of COMPAREX

goetzpartners advised SoftwareONE, a global leading platform, solutions and services company backed by the private equity investor KKR, on the acquisition of 100% of the shares in COMPAREX, a global IT service provider, from Raiffeisen Informatik.

By coming together, COMPAREX will enhance SoftwareONE’s customer offerings by combining industry leading talent, expertise and capabilities. Following the combination, SoftwareONE will help customers optimize and manage an estimated €10 bn in software purchases. The combined company will have an expanded global reach across 88 countries, allowing customers to receive on-the-ground, local-language support wherever they operate, from more than 5,500 employees. A comprehensive services and solutions portfolio, driven by proven and continued investment in innovation, will provide customers with more advanced solutions, including SoftwareONE’s PyraCloud, an industry-leading platform for digital software supply chain management.

“As a private company, we carefully review potential acquisitions to ensure that we are best utilizing our capital. Along with our investor KKR, we spent considerable time intensely searching for the ideal partner and are convinced we have found it with COMPAREX. Together, we will be driven by SoftwareONE’s core values as we continue to transform the industry. SoftwareONE’s founders will remain majority shareholders of the combined company," said Daniel von Stockar, Chairman of SoftwareONE Board of Directors.

“The combined company will be built upon a “best-of-both” approach, bringing together SoftwareONE’s entrepreneurial culture with COMPAREX’s process-driven experience. We look forward to integrating COMPAREX’s deep technical knowledge into our own, sharing with our new colleagues all that SoftwareONE has to offer, and welcoming incredible talent from the company to advance our combined business. As one company, we will invest into the most talented team of colleagues in our industry to drive solutions and outcomes for our customers, at an even greater pace,” said Alex Alexandrov, SoftwareONE Executive Management Team.

goetzpartners acted as sole and exclusive financial advisor to SoftwareONE, further underlining our competence advising M&A transactions in the TMT industry. Closing is expected in the first half of 2019. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of required regulatory approvals.

ABOUT SOFTWAREONE

SoftwareONE, a global leader in software and cloud portfolio management, is modernizing the way organizations budget and optimize their global IT spend from on-premises to the cloud. With over 1.000 Technology Projects globally SoftwareONE has the expertise to provide customers with the right advice on their Technology Roadmap towards the cloud or optimizing the Business-outcome of a cloud-based landscape. The PyraCloud platform, applying machine learning, delivers the visibility, insight, automation and control customers demand to maximize their software investments. In tandem, our Software Portfolio Management (SPM) and Software Asset Management (SAM) services provide the methodology and framework to optimize the underlying IT infrastructure, accelerate cloud adoption and minimize compliance risk. Privately owned since 1985, with over 3,000 technology experts located across 80+ countries, SoftwareONE is one of the fastest growing technology solution providers in the world with elite partnerships with Microsoft, AWS, Adobe, IBM, VMware, Oracle, Citrix, Red Hat, Trend Micro and many more.

ABOUT COMPAREX

As a global IT company with thirty years of experience, COMPAREX is a mayor global IT service provider and software license management company. COMPAREX develops innovative managed services that support companies leveraging their software and cloud investments and increasing their workforce productivity. COMPAREX serves corporate customers spanning from small businesses to large international corporations as well as public institutions. The COMPAREX Group employs 2,500 people at over 80 locations in 36 countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas, and generated a revenue of € 2.533 billion in 2017/18.

TRANSACTION TEAM

Dr. Stephan Goetz
Managing Partner
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Dr. Gernot Wunderle
Former Managing Partner
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Adelin Trusculescu
Associate Director
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Patrick Bobak
Analyst
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