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Investment firm puts down $5bn to acquire Veeam

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 17 Jan 2020
William H Largent, CEO and chairman of the board at Veeam Software.
William H Largent, CEO and chairman of the board at Veeam Software.

Veeam Software remains tight-lipped about how its acquisition by US-based venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners will impact local operations.

Last week, it was revealed software investor Insight Partners has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the backup and disaster recovery solutions provider, in a deal valued at $5 billion.

Veeam’s acquisition comes as the company cemented its status as a billion-dollar software firm after it exceeded $1 billion in annual revenue bookings last year.

According to a statement, the purchase, which is expected to close during the first quarter of 2020, will see Veeam become a US company, with a US-based leadership team, while continuing its global expansion.

Furthermore, the acquisition will enable Veeam to accelerate its second act (Veeam’s evolution into hybrid cloud), expand into new markets and continue its growth trajectory.

Founded in 2006, Veeam develops backup, disaster recovery and virtualisation management software. It focuses on products that increase the resistance of virtualised workloads, reduce downtime and ensure the system availability required by service-level agreements.

Its second quarter results in July 2019showed the Switzerland-headquartered company has continued on its double-digit growth trajectory, recording a 26% year-on-year increase in annual recurring revenue.

Veeam has over 365 000 customers in more than 160 countries worldwide and 66 000 channel partners, with offices in more than 30 countries, including a South African business unit to service the continent.

Under the terms of the acquisition, William H Largent has been promoted to the role of CEO – he previously held the role of executive VP for operations. Danny Allan has been promoted to CTO.

“Veeam has enjoyed rapid global growth over the last decade and we see tremendous opportunity for future growth, particularly in the US market, says Largent. “With the acquisition, we are excited that our current US workforce of more than 1 200 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.”

Mike Triplett, Insight Partners MD and Veeam board member, states: “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.

“We are committed to supporting Veeam’s next phase of leadership and growth in the United States, continued market-share leadership position in EMEA and continued global expansion.”

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