Growth Strategies: The 10 Most Significant Mergers and Acquisitions in Tech in 2024

Rapid innovation is a must in the tech industry. Companies need to constantly innovate to stay competitive. However, internal research and development (R&D) can be expensive and time-consuming. External growth, through the acquisition of innovative companies, allows tech companies to quickly access new technologies, products, or skills without the costs and delays associated with internal development. This gives them an immediate competitive advantage and helps them respond more quickly to changing consumer needs.

The largest mergers and acquisitions in the global tech sector (early 2024):

January 2024:

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise (US, a spin-off from Hewlett Packard) specializing in data centers acquires Juniper Networks for $14 billion (€12.8 billion). With this acquisition, HPE intends to strengthen its network portfolio, particularly as part of its AI strategy. Juniper Networks develops and markets network products, including routers, switches, network management software, network security products, and software-defined networking technology.

• The Accenture Group (US), which specializes in management consulting, technology services, and outsourcing services, is finalizing the acquisition of Navisite (US), a provider of digital transformation and managed services. This acquisition helps strengthen and evolve Accenture's application and infrastructure managed services capabilities to help clients across North America modernize their IT for the AI era.

• The American firm Synopsys acquires its compatriot Ansys for $35 billion. The combination of Synopsys' electronic design automation tools (CAD software) and Ansys' portfolio of simulation and analysis tools paves the way for the creation of a global giant in hardware and software design solutions for silicon systems.

February 2024:

• KKR (US), a global investment firm, is acquiring Broadcom Inc.'s End-User Computing division (the "EUC Division") in a transaction valued at $4 billion. The EUC business includes desktop virtualization offerings such as Horizon and Workspace ONE. KKR already owns Alludo, publisher of Parallels VDI software.

March 2024:

• The telecom operator Swisscom (CH) signs binding agreements with the British group Vodafone Group plc for the acquisition of the entire Vodafone Italia for €8 billion with the aim of merging the company with Fastweb, Swisscom's Italian subsidiary.

April 2024:

• The American multinational IBM has acquired the Californian publisher of multi-cloud infrastructure automation solutions, Hashicorp, for €6.4 billion. By acquiring HashiCorp, IBM gains control of products well known to developers and CIOs: Terraform, Consul, Vault, Boundary, Nomad, Packer, and Waypoint.

• The investment fund Thomas Bravo acquires Darktrace, the global leader in artificial intelligence for cybersecurity (a company listed on the London Stock Exchange's main market). The transaction is estimated to be worth $5.3 billion.

The 10 largest mergers and acquisitions in the tech sector in France as of January 1first half of 2024:

January 2024: 

• The Lyon-based LDLC Group, a specialist in IT and high-tech e-commerce in France, has acquired the brand and e-commerce site Rue du Commerce from the ShopInvest group (3 Suisses) for €6 million. LDLC now brings together a wide range of IT retailers: Materiel.net, Hardware.fr, Top Achat, and Rue du Commerce.

• The ERES IV fund, advised by Elyan Partners (UK), acquires a majority stake in French company Stordata, an integrator that has become a cloud service provider. Stordata's cloud offering (StorCloud) is ISO27001 and HDS (Health Data Hosting) certified.

• Vulcain Engineering, an engineering group specializing in energy transition and life sciences, has made the largest acquisition in its history by acquiring Infogene, a digital services company specializing in augmented digital transformation, previously owned by the family investment holding company DENTRESSANGLE.

February 2024:

• Valiantys, France's leading consulting and services company worldwide, is strengthening its international presence by acquiring GLiNTECH, an Atlassian Platinum Partner. Based in Australia, GLiNTECH is the benchmark for more than 300 customers in the field of services dedicated to the Atlassian software suite.

March 2024:

• ChapsVision, the French leader in sovereign data processing and retail expert, acquires Anycommerce, a recognized player in the digital transformation of retailers in Europe. This transaction marks the alliance of two members of French Tech.

April 2024:

• CEGID GROUP, a European leader in cloud management solutions for professionals in finance (ERP, treasury, taxation), human resources (payroll, talent management), accounting, retail, and entrepreneurship, acquires EBP, a publisher of professional management software (accounting, sales management, payroll, and CRM solutions dedicated to the management of SMEs, craftsmen, merchants, and liberal professions).

• The Paris-based INNOV8 Group, a leader in the digital and connected ecosystem market, acquires the assets of TRAX Distribution, a renowned French company specializing in the distribution of IT, high-tech, urban mobility, lifestyle, climate control, and connected device products. Founded in 2010 by Olivier Granger, TRAX Distribution has experienced exceptional growth, generating more than €42 million in revenue in 2023.

• Orisha (France), one of Europe's leading publishers of vertical software for businesses, is acquiring the Belgian group Gaiana, a leader in business software publishing for the wine and spirits sector, which offers solutions covering all the business needs of the agrifood sector: from crop and production monitoring to management tools (ERP, CRM), regulatory solutions (accounting, customs declarations), and traceability (input tracking, ESG reporting, etc.).

June 2024:

• The private equity fund Bridgepoint (UK) acquires French publisher LumApps , which offers a SaaS digital workplace solution integrated with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 collaborative suites, for $650 million.

July 2024:

• The British investment fund AnaCap acquires Cleva SAS, a provider of software solutions for life, health, and non-life insurance, from Inetum Group. The company is headquartered in Paris and operates mainly in France and Portugal, serving more than 60 insurance companies and brokers. This is the secondinvestment investment in 2024, following the acquisition last April of a majority stake in Yard Reaas, a leading real estate investment and management services platform.

And on the Docoon partners and customers side:

• Divalto, a leading provider of cloud-based management solutions, has acquired FLEXIO, the developer of the No Code business application creation platform.

⇒ Docoon is a trusted partner of Divalto, a publisher of ERP and CRM software for SMEs/SMIs. Docoon regularly enhances Divalto's value proposition in specific business areas.

• The ISAGRI Group, a specialist in agricultural management software, has carried out two external growth operations in recent months. Firstly, it acquired Crisalid (turnover: €7 million), a company specializing in the sale of cash registers since 1992. With this acquisition, the Oise-based Group is consolidating its strategy to become the French, then European, leader in the publication of management solutions for bakeries and food retailers. 
• More recently, Isagri acquired its Swiss counterpart Agroplus. The transaction enables Isagri's Swiss subsidiary to "triple its customer base" and establish a presence in all Swiss cantons. 

⇒ The Iasagri group uses the Docoon multichannel messaging platform to send information and alerts to farmers. 

• The Septeo Group (3,000 employees, 2022 turnover: €310 million), a leading software publisher in Europe, announced at the beginning of the year that Dendreo, a publisher of management software for training organizations, had joined the group. In March, the Group acquired ACIGrup, a Spanish software publisher for the hotel and restaurant industry. This acquisition consolidates Septeo Hospitality's position as a leading software publisher in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. Finally, in June, Septeo integrated We Recruit, a French recruitment software publisher, into its group. 

⇒ Septeo Hospitality (formerly Sequoiasoft), a subsidiary of the Septeo group and publisher of management and e-commerce software for the tourism sector, uses the Docoon multichannel messaging platform to send and manage large volumes of emails and SMS messages.