Private equity firm TPG Capital has acquired Nintex, a software company that has robotic process automation (RPA) capabilities. The seller, Thoma Bravo, will make a new equity investment in Nintex and maintain a "significant" minority interest in the business. Financial terms and valuation details of the deal were not disclosed.
This is technology M&A deal numbers 626 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2021.
RPA software allows businesses to write code and bots that rapidly automate manual tasks across multiple departments — from IT service desks to HR, finance, customer support, security operations centers (SOCs) and more. Much of the RPA software industry focuses on enterprise customers. Still, RPA may even eventually catch on in the SMB market as MSPs seek to further automate internal and customer operations.
The global RPA software market is expected to reach $13.74 billion by 2028, up from $1.57 billion in 2020. The market’s compound annual growth rate from 2021 to 2028 is expected to be 32.8%, Grand View Research predicts.
Nintex Automation Software Capabilities, Partnerships
The Nintex cloud platform supports intelligent forms, advanced workflows, digital document generation, eSignatures, and RPA. Also, Nintex Promapp allows users to capture, map, document and support various organizational work processes, the company said.
Nintex, backed by 850 employees, supports "hundreds of partners" and more than 10,000 end-customer organizations, the firm indicated. Key adopters include IT teams, operations professionals, business analysts and app developers who want to manage, automate, and optimize business processes, Nintex noted.
In a prepared statement about the Nintex deal, TPG Capital Co-Managing Partner Nehal Raj said:
“In today’s landscape, digital process automation and management are critical to any company’s ability to work effectively and efficiently. The automation of the enterprise is a core investment theme for our software team, and we believe Nintex is at the forefront of enabling this transformation. While the company serves thousands of organisations today, we believe they are only scratching the surface in terms of the breadth of departmental and industry process solutions needed. We look forward to working with the teams at Nintex and Thoma Bravo to accelerate the company’s growth.”
Added Nintex CEO Eric Johnson:
“It is an exciting day for every member of the Nintex global community. Our mission continues to focus on improving the way people work through process management and automation, and with the support of leading software investors like TPG Capital and Thoma Bravo, the future of Nintex is extraordinarily bright. It is a mission-critical time to be a part of the worldwide automation movement and we can’t wait to further delight our customers and partners with continued product innovation and valuable programs that fuel their ongoing success.”
Concluded Thoma Bravo Partner Hudson Smith:
“We are thrilled with the pace of innovation, operational rigour, and financial results delivered by Nintex over the last few years. From product engineering to marketing, sales, and customer success, Nintex has been laser focused on what matters most – ensuring the success of everyone leveraging Nintex software to improve and automate business. We’re very optimistic about Nintex’s future and look forward to our continued partnership with the company.”
RPA Software Mergers, Acquisitions, Investments and MSP Implications
Perceived RPA market leaders include Automation Anywhere and UiPath. Still, RPA market competition is intensifying. Amid all the growth, multiple venture capital firms, private equity firms and software companies are buying their way into the RPA sector. The M&A deals could ultimately influence how MSPs automate their own businesses as well as end-customer systems.
Key M&A buyers in the RPA sector include IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce and ServiceNow. Also, Vista Equity Partners in September 2021 acquired Blue Prism Group for $1.5 billion, and disclosed plans to merge Blue Prism with Tibco Software. Vista has owned Tibco since 2014.
Much of the RPA software industry focuses on enterprise customers. Still, RPA may even eventually catch on in the SMB market as MSPs seek to further automate internal and customer operations.
Among the MSP-friendly RPA companies to watch: ElectroNeek raised $20 million in June 2021. The company’s goal: Build and promote RPA software for MSPs and IT teams. Also, there’s chatter about former MSP security entrepreneurs preparing to launch an MSP-focused RPA company sometime later this year. Stay tuned.
