Software Equity Group

The Software Equity Group has published their third quarter 2019 SaaS M&A update.  You can download the entire report here (free, email registration required).  As usual it contains a ton of valuable information. 

Highlights

  • For the first time, M&A deal volume for the overall software industry (including SaaS, on-premise license model software, internet, and mobile deals) eclipsed 700 transactions in 3Q19.
  • Specific to the SaaS M&A market, deal volume reached a historical high of 314 SaaS transactions in 3Q19, a 24.6% YoY increase from 3Q18’s 252 transactions. Annual deal volume is expected to reach approximately 1,100 – 1,200 deals by end of 2019.
  • M&A targets with a vertical focus comprise approximately 42% of SaaS M&A transactions in 3Q19. Verticals with the highest deal count in 3Q19 include Healthcare (28 deals), Financial Services (18 deals), and Real Estate (12 deals).
  • SaaS M&A transactions posted a strong median multiple of 4.8x EV/Revenue in 3Q19. The SaaS M&A revenue multiple has been trending up over the past few quarters, increasing from 4.3x EV/Revenue in 3Q18.

Enterprise Value/Revenue Multiples

Revenue multiples remain high with a median multiple of 4.8x. 

SEG Q3 2019 V/Revenue Multiples
https://softwareequity.com/seg-snapshot-2q19-saas-ma-update/

Revenue Multiples by Company Size

SEG Q3 2019 EV/Revenue by Company Size

Life Span Before Acquisition

SEG q3 2019 EE & Lifespand

EV/Revenue varies by size of company:

Other Contents

The report contains a lot of other valuable content including transaction count by industry, three year valuation trends, deal count by product category/vertical, deal count by business model, del count by buyer and target backing, M&A activity by region, and a listing of the 250+ transactions that closed in Q2.

Once again, here is the link to the full report.


Also published on Medium.

By John Mecke

John is a 25 year veteran of the enterprise technology market. He has led six global product management organizations for three public companies and three private equity-backed firms. He played a key role in delivering a $115 million dividend for his private equity backers – a 2.8x return in less than three years. He has led five acquisitions for a total consideration of over $175 million. He has led eight divestitures for a total consideration of $24.5 million in cash. John regularly blogs about product management and mergers/acquisitions.