Tech M&A Monthly: Are you worried about your company's future?

April 2020 Tech M&A Monthly - Introduction

Bruce Milne

Welcome to Tech M&A Monthly for April 2020 with a special report: “Worried About Your Company's Future? You should be.”

I'm Bruce Milne, CEO of the Corum Group, your host for today. I hope you're safe wherever you are, whatever time of day it is. Please feel free to chime in with questions on the Q&A sidebar throughout the discussion. We'll have the slides available for you after the webcast. To get a copy, you can reach out directly to info@corumgroup.com with additional questions or comments.

As you can see from the agenda, we have a number of topics to cover, culminating in a presentation on "Seven Steps to a Virtual Merger." Then, we'll wrap up with a few words from tech buyers who've offered us some of their insights. Don't leave early. You don't want to miss what they have to say.

Before we start though, I have a special announcement. We're resurrecting a Corum division that we started 25 years ago, Software Investments. It was originally for that purpose -- investments -- but we're resurrecting it to help victims of COVID-19, specifically smaller companies that need to sell now. If you're interested, contact GinaS@corumgroup.com.

 

WFS Announcement – Growth & Exit Strategies Schedule

Bruce Milne

Now, let's go to Matt Rung, Director of the World Financial Symposiums, for a quick announcement. Matt?

Matt Rung

Hi, Bruce. Thanks for having me on. We wanted to make a quick announcement. Our flagship tech conference, Growth & Exit Strategies for Software & IT Companies, has gone virtual. We'll be broadcasting live from Seattle on April 28th. The conference theme will be "Managing and Selling During a Crisis." We'll have live discussions and Q&A with speakers from Madrona, Microsoft, Salesforce, F5, Redfin, and many others. Invite-only for tech founders and CEOs. Be sure to drop us a note if you're interested. You can email us directly at director@wfs.com. A huge thank you to the Corum Group for being the continued platinum sponsor for the WFS.

Bruce Milne

Thanks, Matt. We're happy to be sponsoring you again. What a group of blue-chip speakers. It will be a big event. It's so critical right now.

 

April 2020 Tech M&A Monthly – Recent Acquisition Announcements

Bruce Milne

Now, let's turn it over to Dr. Ivan Ruzic and David Levine for some recent deal announcements. Despite what the headlines may be telling you, buyers are still buying.

Ivan Ruzic

I'm excited to announce the acquisition of Light Point Security by McAfee. Life Point Security was founded by former NSA cybersecurity experts, Zuly and Beau, who realized very early on that browsers were exceptionally vulnerable and spread the vast majority of malware. Light Point became the first mover and technology leader, with the only solution in market that could provide 100% protection from web-based threats. The entire team is transitioning to McAfee which plans to integrate Light Point's browser isolation technology into its secure web gateway. Our heartfelt congratulations to Zuly, Beau, and the entire team at Light Point, but also to McAfee, for a very astute, strategic acquisition.

Bruce Milne

Thank you, Ivan. Dave?

David Levine

Congratulations to the Aware360 team on their sale of their municipal fleet tracking business to Certified Tracking Solutions. This acquisition highlights the continued consolidation in the telematics sector and provides additional regional market penetration for Certified Tracking. Aware360 is honing their focus on high-growth areas in the lone worker space, continuing their vision to help all workers be connected and safe. This has become top of mind for all organizations in this changing environment, where employees are now working from home at scale. I'm excited for what lies ahead for the Aware360 team, and congratulations again to Certified Tracking Solutions.

Bruce Milne

Thank you, Dave. That's great news, guys. Congratulations to our clients.

 

April 2020 Tech M&A Report

Bruce Milne

Now, let's go to Elon Gasper and our research team. Elon?

Elon Gasper

Thanks, Bruce. Unfortunately, our tech M&A report today is -- well, we can't do it. These aren't normal times. To review values and set the deals from before and during the crash in our regular way -- with so much of the economy in lockdown, no time table for rebooting it -- wouldn't be meaningful. Plus, there's significant transaction data not recorded yet or unclear. Some announced deals are still seeing terms altered, or may not close at all.

So next month, we'll have a special report on markets and valuation in this new world. We'll cover topics that include 2020 transactions and the changing outlook for them and their valuation. We'll look deeper into the pandemic's effects on Tech M&A, the resultant recession, how sectors of tech and buyers have been shuffled, and what's an optimal outcome now after the sudden drop ended the long bull market.

 

Historical Valuations and the Types of Buyers

Elon Gasper

We also can't tell you if there's another step down coming, but we can show you the history of valuations after one. From the bottom, your one-times sales in '03, you would have had to hang in there nearly 12 years to get a run back above three times sales long enough to dependably sell while still at that level. Sure, perfect timing plus some luck might have got you out quick, seven years in on the short top in 2011, but tech M&A isn't instant. It takes a window of time for a seller to prepare, process, and close.

Looking back now at how we've tracked the long bull market in tech M&A, we've particularly seen changes among the types of buyers involved. Buyers fall into two main types: strategics like Accenture and Microsoft; and private equities, sometimes called financial buyers or PEs, like Vista and Thoma Bravo. Though others abound -- they're at the bottom -- most transactions are by strategics and private equities. Both groups are led by top buyers we identify. From 2013 to 2018, just five years, we saw a dramatic shift among those. While the top strategics stayed active at about 210 deals, the top PE deals increased by over 50%, from 197 to 306. Private equity's overall share increased even more, doubling during that time.

This slide from a recent Corum webcast makes the point two. The dominant buyers now not only do more deals, but at higher values. They're buying machines, because they have more money, which they've been chartered to spend. They used this to buy directly and through their existing portfolio of companies. Those additions are called bolt-ons. We broadcast a webinar last year with Alpine, a representative of the private equity community, talking about the importance of bolt-ons, saying 90% of our acquisitions are bolt-ons.

Last year's top private equity leaderboard displays their deal count from number one, Vista, on down. Note that the preponderance of these deals were bolt-ons, shown in blue, now above the direct acquisitions called platforms, in gold. The inset chart shows the steady and remarkable rise in this bolt-on practice too, from 2.7 to 1 a few years back, to over twice that ratio now, 5.5 to 1. We at Corum led the identification and tracking of this trend and going forward, we expect it to continue because it's an efficient and effective way to accrete smaller companies to get the strength and breadth of product line needed to compete in today's world. Many of you among our listeners today would likely fit as a bolt-on, extending and strengthening an existing platform.

There are also companies using a buy and hold model, like Constellation Software, a verticals specialist which makes acquisitions through its wide network of subsidiaries. A record 75 deals just last year -- the most ever -- working through their portfolio companies like Volaris and Harris. We've had them on webinars and at various conferences during their long history of hundreds of transactions, consolidating the market like the private equity firms.

 

Corum Research Team: Market Consolidations

Elon Gasper

Another indication of the trend toward consolidation lies in how market cap – roughly stock price – and the cash of strategics – the primary acquirers a decade ago – have changed. They've become tech giants soaring to all-time highs and remain at astounding levels of capacity and cash. Microsoft increased its by almost $110 billion. Alphabet, Google, over $100 billion. So, these firms alone can wield almost $0.5 trillion dollars. The whole tech industry, nearly $1 trillion. Don't count them out. They too will compete aggressively for key companies in consolidation.

One of the things we look at in addition to consolidation is what we call “value rationalization.” We look forward to analyzing how that affects the market now. Here's a first look at three sectors with declines from 2015 to 2020 recently. Declines in their multiples aren't because they're intrinsically bad sectors, but because of price rationalization. The pendulum eventually swings back to normal. It'll be interesting to see what that new normal is.

So, looking forward to seeing you on May 14th for a special report. Thank you. Back to you, Bruce.

Bruce Milne

Thanks, Elon, and our global research team for putting that together. I'm really looking forward to next month. What an amazing historical rise in valuations, nearly tripling in value from the bottom to the top.

 

Special Report: “Are You Worried About Your Company’s Future? You Should Be.”

Bruce Milne

Now, to our special report. "Are You Worried About Your Company's Future? You Should Be."

In late 2008, seeing a steep recession coming, we ran an emergency conference just before Christmas with the same title. Over 600 companies attended. Back then, we did not advise people to sell, but rather to hunker down, ride it out. We felt strongly that there were better values ahead.

Among other things, we offered these five suggestions.

Number one, reduce nonessential staff immediately -- some of the things you're doing right now.

Number two, cash is king. Cut all unnecessary expenses.

Number three, set up lines of credit and then take them down to limit. What I mean by that is you can set them up but you want them taken down because you do not want the banks imposing the fine print which says that they can cancel them if things get worse.

Number four, focus on your core business. Triage the rest.

And number five, and this is hard to do given all the input that is so wrong, you have to think long haul. Recessions take a while. Years.

Many took our advice, waited it out, and we sold over 150 of them in the following years.

But today is different.

Business and individuals were just hit by a pandemic tsunami, instant recession -- serious financial damage done already. Globally, it's a form of grief actually. We're going through the five stages from denial to acceptance. Everybody in a different stage right now because it's happened so quickly.

For you owners, you need to be in that final stage fast because your wealth is on the line and the instinctive mode of hunkering down may lead to a wealth to ashes trap for many. You'll miss the M&A window, one that may never come back. I've been doing this for 35 years, overseeing the sale of more software companies than anyone. And I've never issued this recommendation to get to market now.

 

Special Report: What Happens During a Recession?

Bruce Milne

Now, let me start by explaining what happens during a recession. When the M&A market turns, it's a very sharp drop as it did in 2000 and 2008. Within 18 months, you lose 40% of your value because 50% of the buyers leave. It normally takes six to seven years to fully recover, but no less than three years and deal structures take a serious beating. Here are some examples of similar companies in size and profitability and value sold at various stages and retrenching market. From the top, a seller's market -- to the bottom, a buyer's market.

The first case was the top of the market. $70 million deal, acquisition was all cash, only 5% escrow. The next case, the market was well on its way down. Same size, similar company, only $50 million total enterprise value and structure is half cash and the other 50% as earn-out over four years. The final case was at the bottom of the market. A similar company sold for only $30 million. This time, no cash at close and everything was structured between earn-out and unregistered stock.

 

6 Recession Questions Every Software Company Owner Has to Ask

Bruce Milne

Now with this instant recession, here's six questions every CEO has to ask.

Number one: how deep is the V of the recession we're staring down? How fast are we going down?

In the industry, we call it the "V of the recession." Sometimes it looks like a U or maybe even a W. But for this case, we'll call it the V. So, how fast are you going to go down and how far? Normally it takes two to four years just to hit bottom as we see from the graph. The markets were in near record highs earlier in Q1, so there's a long way to drop.

Number two, how wide is the V? How many years will the recession last? It varies by market. Some sectors never recover.

Number three, can you personally make it to the other side of the V? Do you have the health, fortitude, energy for such an arduous task ahead of you with an unclear timeline? If you're a baby boomer -- probably not --. it's what we call the "boomer conundrum," which we talked about earlier last year. Most of you realistically don't have the time.

Number four, how badly will you suffer? How much in resources, savings will it take? Losses incurred, staff lost, market position eroded. What will be the personal toll, marriage and family, et cetera? Is it worth the risk? Anyone who has studied recession knows it's all about the balance sheet. If you do not have a balance sheet that will make it through the recession, you need to partner with someone who does.

Number five, will your market consolidate during this recession? You heard Elon talk about that. The goal of every platform portfolio company is market consolidations. The PEs will be aggressively buying bolt-ons, tuck-ins, add-ons to finish the job. You heard Elon mention Patrick Eble from Alpine. Patrick will join us shortly. The problem for some of you is you don't want to be the last man standing in a consolidated market. In our business, we sometimes call that "dead men walking" because no one's going to buy them.

The last point, where will valuations be at the end of the recession? After years of recovery, will we rise back up to the record high valuations we recently experienced? The answer's "no" for three reasons: those valuations are the result of a record bull market, markets will have consolidated, and price rationalization, as Elon reviewed, will have set in.

 

What’s Unique About Today’s Recession?

Bruce Milne

To understand what to do, you need to understand why the recent recessions are not a guide for this one. Here's the difference people are missing right now.

We can't compare the dot.com era where those driving the market were newly minted public companies selling the Internet future – we call back then, "eyeballs on websites." They were using their stock as currency. They bid up prices to multiples we didn't see again for nearly 15 years in some cases. The stocks became worthless as those companies collapsed. Few deals were for cash – there wasn't that much cash. Debt wasn't that available. Private equity was not a factor.

In the 2008 crash, valuations were not that high, nor was the stock price of the strategic buyers. As you saw earlier, they were buying companies with earnings. That was the mantra back then. The stock crash was due to a collapse in the financial system. Mortgage-backed securities, remember? There wasn't that much cash available. Debt was relatively expensive. The PEs were a marginal factor.

Today is totally different. After an 11-year bull run, tech valuations were near all-time highs just months ago. Same with the stocks of strategic buyers. Between them, they have record cash – over $1 trillion – that they can use for acquisitions. But the biggest difference now, as Elon mentioned, is that private equity firms dominate tech M&A. They have $3 trillion to invest. Indeed, the fourth largest software company in the world is Vista Equity, a PE firm. That's how pervasive the PE firms are now. Further, the PE firms are able to leverage record low-interest rates.

The biggest difference – for those of you looking to sell – is that today, it's about the "story," not about "eyeballs on websites" or earnings. It's what do you represent to the future of these buyers? For the strategics who are not doing R&D themselves, what competitive edge do you provide in global market? For the PE firms, even more important than the financials, what role can you play in giving them the technology, domain expertise, teams, channels, users, to help them consolidate markets? They're sitting on billions of funds that are chartered for acquisitions.

 

Special Report: Deciding When to Sell

Bruce Milne

Let me summarize by going back to the graph. It's a very simple decision. Do you want to sell when we were near the top heading down? Somewhere near the bottom when prices have collapsed? Or years out, after the recovery, when many buyers have disappeared?

We think this recession will look like the dot.com chart where values really didn't recover, though the bottom will happen faster than four years. Thus, if you have a good story and are healthy, you need to at least calibrate this market. As the recession progresses, many of you will be weakened in a deteriorating market. Buyers like to buy healthy companies, not ones they have to fix.

So with all that, I imagine a number of you may be wondering, in the age of COVID-19 where travel is restricted, how do you get in front of the buyer or financial partner?

 

Special Report: Virtual Mergers in 7 Steps

Bruce Milne

Here's my colleague Jon Scott, Managing Director of Corum Group International, to go through how you properly execute a virtual merger in seven steps. Jon?

Jon Scott

I've been asked a number of times recently by new Corum clients and their CEOs. They've asked me how in today's environment – with the COVID virus and the travel restrictions – is the M&A process going to operate? How can I get in front of people and see them and actually negotiate and do product demonstrations, et cetera?

And the Corum Optimal Outcome Process has become almost virtual over the past 10 years out of a need for efficiency by both technology buyers and sellers. Now today, unfortunately, it's a necessity. But from the initial virtual launch meeting to document creation, to buyer list development, presenting management overviews of the company, data room development – all of this can be done virtually. Even negotiations of letters of intent and offers can be done virtually. And that's using today's advanced communications tools.

Now, a majority of due diligence is also conducted virtually with buyers and third parties. So I'm going to talk a little bit about virtual M&A in seven steps: from preparation, to research, to the contact phase, discovery, negotiation, due diligence, and finally closing.

 

Step #1: Virtual Planning & Preparation Phase

Jon Scott

So, virtual planning and preparation. These meetings are attended by global staff, including our business analysts, writing analysts, buyers analysts, and many of Corum's deal makers who are all ex-CEOs. And these kickoff meetings are actually well, well done in a virtual environment. In these meetings, we review and allocate staff resources, we set timelines, we compile business and marketing plans. Presentation materials are designed and then we also begin collecting due diligence materials.

 

Step #2: Virtual Research Phase

Jon Scott

The next step, phase two, is a virtual research phase. And this is where we're preparing buyers lists, buyer positioning, performing strategic analysis on different buyers, preliminary valuation work. And again, these are all done by Webex, or GoTo Meetings, virtual conference calls, and such.

 

Step #3: Virtual Go to Market Phase

Jon Scott

So, once the research is completed, the contact phase starts, and this has always been a virtual phase. So we're creating introductory correspondence. We're conducting dry runs on company presentations. We're executing non-disclosures and non-solicitation agreements, screening initial interests, setting valuation expectations, and also refining the process based on the feedback that we're receiving.

 

Step #4: Virtual Discovery

Jon Scott

And then discovery phase starts, and this again is virtual. Coordinate conference calls and virtual one-hour management presentations with buyers, virtual technology reviews, and deep dives. And this is really especially interesting in discovery because many technology companies are very global in nature. The CEO may be sitting in one office and the CTO may be in another continent and the CFO may be somewhere else. So, a lot of these discovery meetings are done virtually anyway because people are all over the globe.

So, this is setting up NDAs, finishing due diligence, getting set, and it's also a time for the seller to get to understand the buyers. What's their position? How would they handle an acquisition of my company?

 

Step #5: Virtual Negotiations

Jon Scott

Beyond discovery, you get into virtual negotiations. And this is organizing and hosting final virtual discovery meetings on different deep dives and maybe technology areas, providing structure evaluation guidance, and trying to create this auction type environment that Corum uses in its optimal outcome. And that's where we get multiple parties to the table with the same education at the same time. And so in this case, you've got buyers coming to the table, they're going to be providing letters of intent, they're going to be negotiated. And we're going to pick the best buyer, the best agreement we can, and then negotiate those components of it down. And again, this is almost always done by phone.

 

Step #6: Virtual Due Diligence

Jon Scott

And then, virtual due diligence. So, creating and populating a virtual data room. I mean, data rooms today are all electronic and we start having you populate those data rooms early in the process and actually pre-letter of intent phase so there'll be certain amounts of data being put in the data room for interested parties and buyers to take a look at.

And then during the diligence phase, there are outside opinions that are needed. And for example, a lot of times, code is reviewed to look to see if there is open source or other issues with code and that's all done virtually. Black Duck is a company that does that. They'll get a hold of your code -- it's put up into the cloud, very, very secure -- and they review that and give a virtual report back on what they see in the code. And there'll be technical and legal ownership, due diligence, written explanation of your models, and then the definitive agreements will be negotiated and agreed to. And again, these can all be done virtually. Most of the legal agreements are done that way with your counsel and the buyer's counsel together with Corum and yourselves negotiating the different elements. And they're almost always done over the phone.

 

Step #7: Closing

Jon Scott

And then finally, step seven, is virtual closing. You've got your final reps in a warranty set up, you're determining your escrow holdbacks, final opinions, and you're signing contracts virtually anyway in counterpart. So, it's not like the old days or in the movies where there's a big closing and 25 people get into a room and the documents are all passed around and signed. They're signed virtually today. And then payment and distribution and then wire proceeds.

So, if you look at it -- from preparation to research, to contact, discovery, negotiation, due diligence to closing -- can be done virtually and in a lot of cases is done with that today.

And so Corum has been conducting these virtual global M&A processes successfully for more than 10 years. Both our clients and the buyers that we interact with appreciate the efficiency of this approach and given today's technologies to support the process, the tech is here to make this happen. So given today's environment, virtual mergers are the new norm.

Bruce Milne

Thank you, Jon. Great report. We had a client from Europe go to market this week. I counted 20 experts online from seven different countries. Talk about virtual.

 

5 Major Benefits of a Professional Process

Bruce Milne

There are five major benefits of doing the process right. Each of them is significant.

First off, if you go through this properly, the preparation process, you will forge a much better business model, whether you sell or not.

The next one is that you'll have a much better-tuned positioning statement. The research of competitive companies, buyers, what they want, mapping to trends, will give you a much stronger positioning statement.

The third one is an interesting one. We learned this one. The buyer contact and all the discussions give you insights to help improve your value. I mean, you could pay $1 million and do a market research and not get the kind of feedback we get during this process.

The fourth one -- and this is a surprise to a lot of people -- is that you go through lots of NDAs, you open lots of doors, but they're not buyers, but they could end up becoming business for you.

And the last one is you're hoping to do some kind of a merger sale or a financial recap of your company. Any one of these will justify the time and expense of going through the process.

 

April 2020 Tech M&A Special Report: Buyers’ Insights

Bruce Milne

Now, let me turn it over to my colleague, Timothy Goddard, Executive Vice President who works with the buyers. Tim?

Timothy Goddard

Thank you, Bruce. We've also been busy speaking with dozens of tech entrepreneurs every day over the last few weeks. There's a lot of people looking for advice and guidance and we've also been talking to the tech buyers. It may be a surprise to some of you, but tech buyers are still very active as witnessed by those transactions we just closed and several other companies we just put under LOI. As the world's largest seller of technology companies, Corum is in touch with the universe of buyers on a daily basis. Here are a few excerpts from our recent conversations with them.

We'll start with Patrick Eble from Alpine. Patrick was on last year to talk about Alpine's pace of acquisitions, especially bolt-ons which we're running 10 to 1 over portfolio acquisitions, or what some would call a "platform place." Patrick?

Patrick Eble

Hi, this is Patrick Eble from Alpine Investors, a middle-market private equity firm based out of San Francisco. Crazy times we're living in these days, but if I can say anything, I'd say that we're open for business. We've been investing out of our new billion-dollar Fund VII and are actively looking for new acquisitions across both software and services. We pride ourselves on being a capital partner through both good times and bad, and so we aren't going to slow down through all of this uncertainty. We're fortunate to have the dry powder to acquire the best software businesses out there. So, if you're considering going to market, the time is now.

Jon Lemelman

Riverside Partners is a technology and healthcare-focused investment firm that's been investing for over 35 years. We've invested through a number of economic cycles in 2000, 2008, 2009, 2010, and currently. We're very, very open to putting capital into businesses in the tech and healthcare ecosystem so that those companies can serve their customers better throughout this time of great uncertainty and beyond.

Rafael Baron

Hello, this is Rafael Baron. I'm with OpenGate Capital. I would say we're definitely open for business. We're currently working and investing out of a newly minted $585-million fund too and we're actively looking for great additions to our portfolio companies, both InRule and CoreMedia. We've been mostly venturing into low code app development software, machine learning software, and enterprise marketing software. This year, we fully expect to deploy new capital for new platforms and we believe that if you're a founder and you're considering a backer, that this is a great time to find a good partner to navigate through some of this market uncertainty.

Michael McNamara

Hi, this is Michael McNamara for Potentia Capital, a tech-focused mid-market Private Equity buy-up firm based out of Australia. We're actively looking for new opportunities, both platforms and bolt-ons. We aren't slowing down and have the dry powder to invest to acquire the best software businesses in Australia and around the world.

Michael Garland

Diversis Capital is a Los Angeles-based private equity firm that invests in lower middle market software and opportunities. With so much uncertainty, I want to make it clear that Diversis is still actively looking to get deals closed and we have $175 million equity left in our fund. We will continue to deploy and can do so without financing contingencies and in-person meetings.

Kellen Haines

Hi, everyone. This is Kellen Haines, Vice President at K1. We're continuing to remain focused on investing in mission-critical software platforms, even amidst the current crisis, with a goal of bringing increased stability to companies attempting to navigate this market volatility. Our model promotes extensive sharing between our 100 plus portfolio companies and tenured industry veterans to essentially distill down to repeatable, predictable best practices. Long-term success won't be determined by which companies can best weather the storm, but instead by the ability of management teams to react quickly and slingshot out of this current crisis. This involves a series of complex decisions that are daunting for CEOs to make in a vacuum. We're excited to remain steadfast in our mission and to continue to partner to great businesses, turning fear and uncertainty into confidence and success.

Puneet Soni

This is Puneet Soni from the Volaris Group, an operating group of Constellation Software. Constellation is an aggregator of vertical market software businesses globally and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the stock symbol CSU.

Despite prevailing market uncertainties, we remain acquisitive this year and still expect to deploy capital on new acquisitions throughout the year. We buy and hold forever. We offer the stability of an international company with $3 billion in revenue and we provide expertise and best practices for software businesses. With well over 400 acquisitions to date, we have a proven track record of helping our portfolio companies strengthen and grow. Founders, owners, and investors with vertical market software companies looking for exit or for financial support during their next evolution phase should get in touch.

Louis Roberts

Hi, this is Louis from Greater Sun Ventures, a private equity firm that provides transformational capital to the middle market growth technology companies. We're based out of Knoxville, Tennessee. We've been very active technology investors in normal times and we're open for business today. We're investing for pre-committed funds that are looking for solutions that cater to the psychotherapy, behavioral health, addiction treatment, outpatient rehab, and IDD space. We aren't slowing down and have the dry powder to invest to acquire the best software businesses. So, if you're considering going to market, the time is now.

Shaw McMorran

Hi, this is Shaw McMorran from Navora Capital. We're a mid-market Private Equity firm based in London. We're presently investing out of our first €200 million fund and writing equity checks from as small as €5 million up to €40 million. What we're looking for is investment and partnership opportunities where we can put our operational, strategic, and global resources to work. We invest across the spectrum, from turnaround to growth capital. So, if you're a software or software-enabled firm, please contact us. We'd love to chat or just see if we can help. We're very open for business presently, so hope to speak to you soon. Thanks.

Peter Coffee

Hi, this is Peter Coffee, Vice President for Strategic Research at Salesforce and I'd like to share what we are seeing from our customers in this unusual situation. We are seeing companies look through the tunnel of what's going on right now to envision the way they'll do business after the crisis stage of the present pandemic has passed. Digital transformation initiatives of telework and telesales, teleservice, telemedicine, tele-education, in particular, are being accelerated, not delayed. They're being driven by immediate necessity. And once they happen, they will not be undone. That means, there's enormous appetite for capability that was barely in beta during the global financial crisis, but is convenient and robust today. Companies and people all over the world are ready for adoptions and deployments that they might've been postponing as long-term possibilities, even just a few weeks ago. This is not the time to press pause on technology go to market. Be there today.

Timothy Goddard

That's really interesting. Thank you to all of our speakers for providing some of your thoughts and insights. Now, for the Tech CEOs on the call, put yourself in the shoes of a tech buyer. Like anything, if you want to stay competitive, hoarding cash, and hunkering down as a path to losing your competitive edge fast, buyers still need good technology. Your technology.

Bruce, back to you.

 

April 2020 Tech M&A: Closing

Bruce Milne

Thanks, Tim. And to all of our staff here for putting together this Tech M&A Monthly, the news was changing daily so it wasn't easy. Thank you to our panelists, great insights. And thank you to our listeners. If you're coming in as healthy, now is not the time to hunker down. You will lose value and you can take the better part of a decade to recover.

Unfortunately, our time's up. We've gone over. So, we'll get back to you by email regarding your questions. We'll see you next month for our special report on how COVID-19 has affected tech transactions. Until then, be safe.