An affiliate of Koch Equity Development LLC, the investment and acquisition subsidiary of Koch Industries, Inc., has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the remaining equity stake in Infor - the business cloud software solutions provider – held by Golden Gate Capital.
At the close of the transaction, Infor will become a standalone subsidiary of Koch Industries, and will continue to be operated by the company’s current management team from its headquarters in New York City.
In addition to being a key enterprise customer, Koch has been an investor in Infor since 2017. With the strength of its balance sheet and a AA corporate credit rating, Koch intends to quickly position Infor as one of the most well-capitalized companies in technology. Koch companies have made more than $26 billion in technology related investments in the past six years, transforming a global portfolio of businesses spanning multiple industries.
"Koch’s decision to acquire Infor is a strong endorsement of our product strategy and focus on creating innovative solutions for our customers,” said Kevin Samuelson, CEO of Infor. “As a subsidiary of a $110 billion+ revenue company that re-invests 90% of earnings back into its businesses, we will be in the unique position to drive digital transformation in the markets we serve. We are rapidly expanding our industry-specific CloudSuites and offering customer experiences and outcomes that are well beyond what is standard in enterprise software.”
“Software is no longer an industry vertical; it is a disruptive layer that is transforming every facet of society,” said Jim Hannan, Executive Vice President and CEO of Enterprises for Koch Industries. “As a global organization spanning multiple industries across 60 countries, Koch has the resources, knowledge and relationships to help Infor continue to expand its transformative capabilities.”
Infor has invested approximately $4 billion in product design and development to deliver industry-specific CloudSuites that solve the most challenging operational issues for over 68,000 customers around the globe. Infor’s CloudSuites are cloud-native, industry-specific and built to help companies modernize and drive immediate, tangible impact. Infor’s key industries include manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, public sector, retail and hospitality.
“Golden Gate Capital founded and began building Infor 18 years ago,” said David Dominik, Co-founder of Golden Gate Capital. “We are selling our remaining stake to Koch Industries, our partner in Infor for the last three years, because of the significant strategic value between Infor and Koch.” Golden Gate Capital Managing Director Rishi Chandna added: “Over the last several years working with Koch Industries and the management team, it is very apparent that there is a great partnership with Koch that will take the company to its next level of success. We are very proud to have worked with the management team in transforming Infor repeatedly over the years as the market has evolved.”
Chris Devault, Director, Industry Relations and Manager, Software Selection at Panorama Consulting Group, commented: “An interesting and unexpected move in the industry. In the end it is all about Capital. The leading ERP and Cloud application firms are the ones who continue to consolidate products and develop advanced applications on leading edge technology.
Having the ability to deeply fund innovative research on the back bone of time tested functionality along with the ability to market themselves in unique, highly visible ways (their partnership with the Brooklyn Nets for example) will take Infor to the next level. We certainly hope the Koch and Infor partnership goes down the path of continued re-investment and innovative development as opposed to just maintaining products and status quo on customer satisfaction. I believe we will see good things in the future as the Koch partnership has been very beneficial to both parties in the past.”
The transaction is subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first half of 2020.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
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