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- Climb's M&A Weekly: Shift4, Thoma Bravo, and Banyan all feature
Climb's M&A Weekly: Shift4, Thoma Bravo, and Banyan all feature
Shift4 buys Global Blue and Banyan Software acquires Medtech Global
Nick @ Climb
February 23, 2025
Welcome back to the Climb Advisors weekly newsletter with five deals from across the B2B tech landscape. Sentiment is strong in the M&A community, with many expecting 2025 to be a record year in terms of deal volume & aggregate value. Valuations are strong & buyers are eager to deploy capital.
Climb Advisors focuses on sell-side advisory for B2B Software and services companies generating $5m-$15m in revenue. We also advise on credit placements and non-dilutive capital solutions for companies of the same profile & in select cases engage in retained buy-side processes for quality buyers. We love to talk markets and connect dots - please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re a founder or investor looking to transact.
Shift4 acquires Global Blue
Overview: Shift4 (FOUR), a US-based fintech company has announced it will acquire 100% of Global Blue’s common shares. Global Blue is a European and APAC-based company that simplifies the shopping experience for consumers. Global Blue’s platform is in more than 400,000 retail and hospitality locations and simplifies the consumer experience with solutions like tax-free shopping and currency conversions. Global Blue operates in 52 countries, so this acquisition will dramatically increase Shift4’s global footprint. Read more here.
Climb Comment: Shift4 acquires Global Blue at an enterprise value of ~$2.5 billion, valuing the common shares of Global Blue at $7.50 per share. FY24 guidance expects adjusted EBITDA between €185-€205m. Assuming midpoint, looks like Shift4 paid ~12x adjusted EBITDA. Global Blue has been steadily increasing EBITDA margins, buying back stock, and in 2023 attracted a $100m investment from Chinese giant, Tencent.
Ionic Partners adds a logistics technology company to its portfolio
Overview: Ionic Partners, a software investment firm, acquires CXT Software, a logistics software solutions company. CXT works to streamline operations and make customer experiences smoother with its software. CXT will now have access to Ionic’s technological resources to accelerate innovation and scale its logistics operations resulting in a smoother experience for its customers. Read more here.
Climb Comment: Ionic Partners believes that AI will force all enterprise software companies to fall into one of two categories – AI enhanced or AI disrupted. Ionic’s strategy has been to buy software companies in the $5-$50 million ARR range and build AI enhanced platforms to help grow these companies. The company is very selective in its acquisitions as its the company’s first investment in almost two years.
Banyan Software buys Medtech Global, a healthcare technology company
Overview: Banyan Software, a software investment company, has acquired Medtech Global, a provider of healthcare technology in New Zealand and Australia. Medtech created the first patient management system in New Zealand and provides a suite of other solutions to the healthcare community. This move expands Banyan’s growing presence in the Australia and New Zealand markets. Read more here.
Climb Comment: Medtech, owned by Advent Partners and management since 2020, sells 100% of the company to Banyan. CEO Geoffrey Sayer and the entire senior leadership team will remain in place to continue driving growth. ‘Buy and Hold’ acquirer Banyan has completed more than 70 acquisitions since 2016. Banyan owns other medical technology businesses including Medicat, an EHR for college campuses. They’ve been making strong moves into ANZ market over last few years as well.
Valsoft continues its activity with entrance into the managed care space
Overview: Valsoft is acquiring Chordline Health, a provider of managed care software. Chordline’s software is designed by clinicians to support health plans, third party administrators, and accountable care organizations. Chordline’s platform is designed to maximize operational efficiency, lower costs, and comply with regulatory requirements, so healthcare organizations can focus on actual patient care. Read more here.
Climb Comment: Valsoft announces their 4th acquisition of just the past few weeks and enters a new market this most recent acquisition. Chordline offers a platform to help health plans & TPAs manage things like patient engagement, population health monitoring, and member risk. Chordline was founded in 1983 and headquartered in Wilmington, NC.
Motus, backed by private equity giants, acquires Everlance
Overview: Motus provides businesses with employees that actively drive for work vehicle reimbursement and risk mitigation solutions. Backed by Thoma Bravo and Permira, the company has acquired Everlance, a mileage and expense tracking solution. Everlance’s solutions track a driver’s miles automatically and allows them to efficiently log their expenses. Read more here.
Climb Comment: Thoma Bravo originally acquired Motus in 2018 and Permira made an investment in 2021. The two firms have driven scaled growth over that period and acquisition expands Motus’ footprint in reimbursements. Motus serves enterprise customers with a full suite of mobility solutions including vehicle monitoring, driver risk analytics, travel cost forecasting and verification, and more.
Article of the week
The first is Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway- a treat this year, as always. Buffett discusses performance, taxes, dividends, management, Japan, and much more. Link here.
Secondly sharing the Onfolio annual letter here. CEO Dominic Wells discusses Holdco operations, strategies for capital efficiency in M&A and the impact of a few strategic acquisitions last year.
It’s relevant to note that Climb was involved in several of those transactions and we continue to support M&A activity in the marketing agency space. Reply to this email to catch-up on what we are seeing in the sector.
Thanks for following along & hope you found something useful or interesting. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re considering a sale this year - we’re always glad to chat & share perspective.
All the best,
Nick