Insight Partners to acquire Veeam in $5bn deal

April 2020 | DEALFRONT | PRIVATE EQUITY & VENTURE CAPITAL

Financier Worldwide Magazine

April 2020 Issue

In a transaction which accelerates its expansion into new markets and continues its growth trajectory, Swiss cloud data management leader Veeam Software has been acquired by global venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners for approximately $5bn.

Under the ownership of Insight Partners, Veeam will become a US company, with a US-based leadership team, while continuing to expand from offices in 30 countries and with customers in over 160 countries.

Founded in 1995, Insight Partners invests in high-growth technology and software companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. The firm currently has over $20bn of assets under management (AUM) and has cumulatively invested in more than 300 companies worldwide.

“Veeam’s strong growth, coupled with high customer retention, unparalleled data management solutions and the opportunities to expand services into new markets, make Veeam one of the most exciting software companies in the world today,” said Mike Triplett, managing director at Insight Partners and Veeam board member. “Veeam’s platform is the most advanced and complete data management solution available to businesses requiring a seamless blend of data backup and recovery, data protection, data security and data availability.”

A leader in backup solutions that deliver cloud data management, Veeam provides a single platform for modernising backup, accelerating hybrid cloud and securing its customers’ data. Headquartered in Switzerland, Veeam serves more than 365,000 customers worldwide. During the last decade, Veeam has collected more than 170 industry awards.

“In a world where a business’s most valuable asset, its data, is constantly on the move and being created at unprecedented rates, data management has never been more critical, and more complex,” said Danny Allan, chief technology officer (CTO) at Veeam. “Legacy solutions cannot keep up. Veeam’s software provides holistic coverage for the modern business. While Veeam’s pre-eminence in the data management space is undeniable, this commitment from Insight Partners and deeper access to its unmatched business strategy and scale-up division will bring Veeam’s solutions to more businesses across the globe.”

At the core of Veeam’s solutions is delivering simplicity, flexibility and reliability to its global customer base, which includes 81 percent of the Fortune 500. Following an investment from Insight Partners at the beginning of 2019, Veeam launched a number of new innovations, including Veeam backup for Amazon web services.

“Veeam has enjoyed rapid global growth over the last decade and we see tremendous opportunity for future growth, particularly in the US market,” said William H. Largent, chief executive of Veeam. “With the acquisition, we are excited that our current US workforce of more than 1200 will be expanded and strengthened to acquire and support more customers. Veeam has one of the highest calibre global workforces of any technology company, and we believe this acquisition will allow us to scale our team and technology at an unrivalled pace.”

Serving as financial advisers to Insight Partners were Goldman Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley, with Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP serving as legal counsel. Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal counsel to Veeam. Financing commitments for the transaction were provided by affiliates of J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley, Ares Management, Bank of America, Golub Capital and Antares Capital. The acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter of 2020.

Mr Triplett concluded: “We are committed to supporting Veeam’s next phase of leadership and growth in the US, continued market-share leadership position in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and continued global expansion.”

Fraser Tennant