The SSA Global transaction was announced in July 2006 when Infor agreed to pay $1.35bn in cash, or $19.50 per share, for its fellow ERP consolidator, with the deal expected to close in the third quarter 2006. The move will lead SSA back into private ownership. The combination of Infor and SSA would result in a company with annual revenue of around $1.6bn and something like 37,000 customers, making it the third largest enterprise applications vendor after SAP AG and Oracle Corp.
However, privately held Infor, is not stopping there because it has also acquired Extensity Inc, a fellow member of the Golden Gate Capital portfolio of companies.
Extensity was created in March 2006 following the acquisition of Geac Computer Corp Ltd by Infor’s backer Golden Gate Capital. Geac’s ERP assets were consumed by Infor while its financial and business-performance software was used as the basis for the newly formed Extensity. At the time the Geac assets were split as a consequence of Infor’s commitment to supplying ERP for selected verticals within the manufacturing and distribution sectors. It was felt performance-management represented a different class of application that did not have a home within Infor. The decision to bring the assets into the Infor business suggests a changing belief system, although Infor described it as an acceleration of its strategy.
Meanwhile, Extensity was in the process of acquiring Systems Union Group, a UK-based provider of financial and performance management solutions. Infor has continued with and concluded the Systems Union transaction so now it is also part of the Infor business.
We are broadening our offering to include solutions that will enable our customers to improve performance throughout the organization, said Jim Schaper, chairman and CEO of Infor. Companies can now choose fully integrated solutions for specific industries as well as best-in-class standalone solutions from one provider.
This trio of acquisitions means Infor will now have annual revenue of $2.1bn and approximately 70,000 customers, and will be the undisputed leader in terms of market share and revenue within the growing mid-market sector. It will also have something like 40 different applications, using different code bases and system architectures, and the cost of backing its never sunset an application policy.
The Atlanta, Georgia-based company has also added substantial debt to its balance sheet. The two-stage transaction was financed through a combination of cash on balance sheet and committed debt financing. The aggregate facilities are comprised of a $150m revolving credit facility, a $2.25bn term loan facility, and a $1.425bn senior subordinated bridge facility.
