Q1 M&A Review

Breaking down notable transactions from the past quarter

Happy Friday Founders & Friends!

We are back with another week of SaaS insights, news, and updates from the team at Bloom Equity Partners. As Q1 is wrapping up next week, we wanted to highlight some notable software acquisitions that have occurred over the past few months.

March

Thoma Bravo to acquire Anaplan

• Anaplan , a provider of business-planning software, agreed to be acquired by private-equity firm Thoma Bravo for $10.7 billion.

• Anaplan’s acquisition is the sixth-largest acquisition so far this year and the largest SaaS acquisition of 2022.

Imprivata to acquire SecureLink

• SecureLink, critical access management software provider, entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Imprivata, a Thoma Bravo backed software co.

February

Veritas Capital acquired Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company

• In late February, Veritas Capital; a leading private equity firm, made an agreement to acquire the learning technology company, Mifflin Harcourt Company.

• HMH is a provider of educational technology learning services and serves more than 50 million students in 150 countries.

Banyan Software acquired DataDesign Solutions

• Banyan, a software investment firm annouced it’s acquisition of DataDesign a provider of student-centered data solutions for an undisclosed amount.

• Banyan is known for its buy-and-hold strategy for growing enterprise software companies serving niche markets.

January

Vista Equity Invests $300M in TigerConnect

• In early January it was announced that healthcare communications software provider TigerConnect raised $300 million in growth investment from Vista Equity Partners

• TigerConnect last raised $45 million at a valuation of $370 million in September 2020.

  ---

What We’re Reading and Listening To…

📚 Why Thoma Bravo Bought Anaplan for $10.7B

📚 Vertical Aggregation

---

Favorites from the Ecosystem

Investors👇…..

Justin Vogt @J_M_Vogt

New software-focused search fund study from Endurance Search Partners and Applied Equity The results of the study A thread 🧵🧵🧵

Sandy Kory @sandykory

Being product-led in a category full of sales-led software players is such an unfair advantage. It's not just that go-to-market will scale more efficiently. It's that product development feedback loops will be 10x faster.

Operators👇….

Jesse Buckingham @jessebucks

7 lessons I learned on how to succeed as a first time CEO:

Michael Girdley @girdley

I've hired and managed over 4,000 people. And I've made every mistake along the way. But I finally found a system that works. Here's a way to hire that makes your life easier and business better: (1/x)

Founders👇…..

Joe Speiser ⚡️ @jspeiser

Why YC startups outperform to the tune of $600 Billion Dollars? Here are 12 priceless pieces of content from Y Combinator that every founder must consume.

Brandon Zhang @brandonthezhang

When thinking about how to build your first business as a solopreneur. Follow this process: • Recall: What 1-2 tasks did you enjoy doing at your job? What help do you usually provide for free? • Find people that need help on that one thing • Build a portfolio of clients

---

About Bloom Equity Partners

Bloom Equity Partners is a lower mid-market software-focused private equity firm, leveraging deep operational and commercial experience to create enduring market value for the benefit of our investors, founders, and their companies.

---

End Note

Thanks for joining us for another edition of the weekly bloom. 

We’re excited to continue backing remarkable teams on their quest of changing the way we work, live + create.

As always, if you enjoyed this week’s newsletter we'd love it if you shared it with a friend, co-founder, or anyone that would find value.