Private equity firm Thoma Bravo agreed yesterday to acquire a majority stake in Apttus, a US-based sales automation software provider backed by enterprise software producer Salesforce and telecommunications group AT&T.
The terms of the deal, which is expected to close in October 2018, were not disclosed and Apttus did not reveal which investors if any would exit. It was valued at $1.75bn in September 2017 according to CB Insights, and was reportedly preparing a flotation.
Apttus has developed artificial intelligence-equipped software originally built for use with the Salesforce platform that helps enterprise clients automate commercial relationship management and revenue generation processes.
David Murphy, an operating partner at Thoma Bravo, will take the chairman role at Apttus post-acquisition. The company had raised a total of at least $329m before AT&T invested an undisclosed amount in January this year.
Premji Invest had led a $55m series E round for Apttus in September 2017 that included Salesforce’s corporate venturing unit, Salesforce Ventures, as well as K1 Investment Management and Iconiq Capital.
The latter three all invested in the company’s $37m series A round in 2013 before coming back for a $41m series B in 2015 and a $108m series C led by sovereign wealth fund Kuwait Investment Authority later the same year.
All the series C investors subsequently joined investment firm Gulf Islamic Investments to supply $88m of series D funding for Apttus in 2016 at a reported $1.3bn valuation.
Tyler Prince, Salesforce’s executive vice-president of industries and partners, said: “Apttus was among the first partners that supported the Salesforce ecosystem by building on our platform, and we are excited to see the growth and success they have achieved.
“The partnership with Thoma Bravo will further enhance the value that Apttus provides to customers as a key member of the Salesforce ecosystem.”
Goldman Sachs was lead financial adviser for Apttus on the transaction while Cooley was legal adviser. Kirkland and Ellis provided legal advice to Thoma Bravo while Deutsche Bank Credit Solutions and Direct Lending put up the financing.