Alternative investment firm KKR is to acquire BMC Software, a specialist in software solutions for digital enterprise.
The company is being acquired from a private investor group led by Bain Capital Private Equity and Golden Gate Capital together with GIC, Insight Venture Partners and Elliott Management.
Founded in 1980, BMC is a leading systems software provider which helps enterprise organisations manage and optimise information technology across cloud, hybrid, on-premise, and mainframe environments. Over the past 38 years, BMC has consistently expanded its scope alongside constantly evolving IT markets to address the ever-changing needs of the global enterprise. Today the company serves more than 10,000 customers worldwide, including 92 per cent of the Forbes® Global 100. Recently, BMC was also recognised as one of America’s best employers for the third consecutive year by Forbes.
“With the support and partnership of our Investor Group, BMC significantly accelerated its innovation of new technologies and new go-to-market capabilities over the past five years,” says Peter Leav, President and Chief Executive Officer of BMC. “Our growth outlook remains strong as BMC is competitively advantaged to continue to invest and win in the marketplace. Our customers can expect the BMC team to remain focused on providing innovative solutions and services with our expanding ecosystem of partners to help them succeed across changing enterprise environments. We are excited to embark on our next chapter with KKR as our partner.”
“In an ever-changing IT environment that is only becoming more complex, companies that help simplify and manage this essential infrastructure for their enterprise customers play an increasingly important role,” says Herald Chen, KKR Member and Head of the firm’s Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT) industry team, and John Park, KKR Member. “With more than 10,000 customers and 6,000 employees, BMC is a global leader in managing digital and IT infrastructure with a broad portfolio of software solutions. We are thrilled to partner with the talented BMC team to accelerate growth – including via M&A – building on BMC’s deep technology expertise and long-standing customer relationships.”
KKR has a long record of supporting technology companies, having invested over USD26 billion in the TMT sector in the last decade. KKR has experience with a number of enterprise systems software related investments, including Mitchell, Epicor and Calabrio. KKR is making the investment primarily from its twelfth Americas Private Equity investment fund.
“We have enjoyed working with and supporting Peter and the leadership team as they have propelled BMC’s technology forward to meet the changing needs of customers and the marketplace, and in the process positioned the business well for the future,” says Ian Loring, a Managing Director at Bain Capital Private Equity.
“BMC has led innovation in their space and invested significantly in the product portfolio, and it has been gratifying to see the results in top line growth and enhanced competitive positions,” adds David Humphrey, a Managing Director at Bain Capital Private Equity. Loring and Humphrey both serve on the BMC Board of Directors.
“We are very pleased with our successful partnership with BMC’s leadership team. Over the past five years, BMC has built upon its 38-year history of leadership in IT management solutions by adapting to industry shifts and innovating new tools that help transform customers into leading digital enterprises. Today, BMC’s solutions serve as the digital innovation and operations engine for thousands of customers worldwide. We are confident that BMC will continue this momentum and has a bright future ahead,” says Rishi Chandna, Managing Director at Golden Gate Capital and a member of the BMC Board of Directors.
