Happy Friday fellow weekly bloom readers!
We are back with another week of SaaS insights, news, and updates from the team at Bloom Equity Partners.
We’re starting things off with some insights into the biggest M&A deals from this past quarter.
Let’s get into it 🔥
Q3 Deal Recap
As Q3 is wrapping up today, we wanted to highlight some notable software acquisitions that have occurred over the past few months.
September
Adobe acquires Figma for $20B
Earlier this month it was announced that Adobe acquired cloud based design and prototyping software, Figma, for a $20B price tag.
Figma was last valued at $10 billion in June 2021, when it raised $200 million.
The company is expected to add approximately $200 million in net new ARR this year, surpassing $400 million in total ARR exiting 2022.
It was also reported that Figma has a net dollar retention of greater than 150%.
EQT agrees to acquire Billtrust for $1.7B
It was announced earlier this week that Billtrust, which develops software that automates the invoice-to-cash process, is agreed to be acquired for $1.7B in an all-cash deal.
Billtrust, which was founded in 2001, quickly grew to offer software-as-a-service (SaaS) products to manage billing for companies, including electronic billing and payments for consumer and business billing services.
Prior to going public through a SPAC merger in 2020, they had raised over $100 million in venture capital funding.
August
Vista Equity acquires tax compliance software provider, Avalara
Avalara, a leading provider of tax compliance automation software, entered an agreement early this august to be acquired by Vista Equity for $8.4 billion in an all-cash transaction.
It was reported earlier this month that a large shareholder plans to vote against the transaction stating that the sale process was flawed, poorly timed and the resulting price undervalues the tax-software company.
Thoma Bravo to acquire Ping Identity for $2.8 Billion
Ping, an enterprise identity management company, agreed to be acquired and taken private by Thoma Bravo for an estimated $2.8 billion.
This is the second time that Ping has been controlled by a PE firm. Prior to going public, it was majority-owned by Vista Equity. Vista retained a share of the company, currently 9.7% of its outstanding shares.
July
TA pays $400-million-plus for a 30 percent stake in Intelerad
American private equity giant TA Associates announced it has invested ~$400 million for a 30-percent stake in Intelerad Medical Systems, a Canadian-based imaging software business.
TA joins Intelerad's majority investors, Hg, and ST6.
Last Call: Invest alongside Bloom Equity’s Fund
It’s truly an unprecedented time to be value investing in software, and our team is delighted to be closing off the raise for our next enterprise software buyout fund over the coming weeks.
If you're a QP / accredited HNW investor, or work at a family office/quasi-institutional platform and are interested in learning more, email our team (ir@bloomequitypartners.com) & we'll share our performance, plans & strategy.
The 2-liner: Bloom makes control investments in lower-middle market enterprise software companies, helping them scale by professionalizing operations and pursuing accretive M&A alongside management. Led by experienced software investors and executives, our approach focuses on an overlooked and underserved segment of the market ($2-20mm ARR businesses; too small for traditional PE, too mature for VC) presenting opportunities for asymmetrical returns.
What We’re Reading and Listening To…
📚 The Vertical Sage- Mark Leonard and Constellation
📚 Why EBITDA can be a terrible measure of profitability
The B2B SaaS growth and sales playbook every founder needs 🚀
Whether it's done with an in-house team or you're leveraging a growth studio like Bloom Growth, taking a systematic approach to scaling from $1M to $10M in ARR takes the right tools and systems. Luckily, Bloom Growth Studio is sharing their exact systems and processes — from laying the foundation and building up a tech stack, to the templates and scripts needed to execute! It's all in BGS's free B2B SaaS growth and sales playbook:
📚 B2B SaaS Growth & Sales Playbook
Favorites from the Ecosystem
Investors👇…..
Founders👇…..
Operators👇….
News from the Industry: deals, deals, and more deals 💰
EQT to take payments firm Billtrust private in $1.7 bln deal
Workiva gets takeover interest from Thoma Bravo, TPG
Apollo’s $3.9 Billion Brightspeed LBO Debt Is Finding Few Takers
End Note 🔚
As always, if you're enjoying The Weekly Bloom, we'd love it if you shared it with a friend or two. We try to make it one of the best emails you get each week, and I hope you're enjoying it.
And should you come across anything interesting this week, send it our way! We love finding new things to read through members of this newsletter.
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.
If you or someone you know is considering selling or taking investment, we might be able to help out. Just reply to this thread and we can get acquainted!