smbview

August 8, 2022 by Wayne Schulz

Avalara Goes Private at $93.50/share

Avalara announced on August 8, 2022 that they intend to go private at a per share price of $93.50 which is about a 2% discount off the Friday 8/5/2022 closing price of $95.55. This remains subject to shareholder approval.

The company’s stock price had traded as high as $191.67 within the past year. Avalara went public on June 15, 2018 when it’s shares closed at $44.94.

From the release:

Under the terms of the agreement, Vista will acquire all outstanding shares of Avalara common stock for $93.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $8.4 billion, inclusive of Avalara’s net debt. The per share purchase price represents a premium of 27 percent over the Company’s closing share price as of July 6, 2022, the last trading day prior to media reports regarding a potential transaction.

Founded in 2004, Avalara’s success is built up on an extensive partner network; large tax content data and repository to help customers stay up to date on dynamic tax rules and regulations; and its cloud-native, end-to-end multi-product tax compliance portfolio. In partnering with Vista, Avalara will look to build on its successful platform by refining its go-to-market strategy, expanding its international workforce, streamlining its systems architecture, and continuing to pursue value-accretive M&A opportunities.

What Does It Mean?

Avalara should get ready for some R&R. Reorganize and Re-Sell. This is a company that has grown pretty quickly yet hasn’t achieved GAAP net income since going public in June 2018. Should the deal receive shareholder approval it almost certainly sets the stage for changes that the company prefers to have play out behind the curtain of a privately held company.

As with most private equity deals, the ultimate outcomes is a sale to another buyer or perhaps an IPO.

July 26, 2022 by Wayne Schulz

Sage Launches Intacct Manufacturing via UK Early Adopter Program

Sage announces the launch of Sage Intacct Manufacturing, available as a standalone or integration to their flagship Sage Intacct accounting. This release will be available starting July 26, 2022 to existing Sage users via an Early Adopter program. General availability will follow after an unspecified timeframe.

Enterprise Times has a great analysis of this announcement as well as a Q&A with Sage regarding their future plans as well as their progress with the French launch which was announced in March 2022.

Sage Intacct Manufacturing lands in the UK

From the Sage press release:

It simplifies complex production and operations processes helping manufacturers and distributors become more resilient businesses tightly coupled with their customers, suppliers, and partners. This is done by delivering world-class accounting and manufacturing industry best practices, and guided workflows that make it easy to manage:

Procurement – buy and put-away
Manufacturing – make and assemble
Distribution – sell and distribute
Inventory and warehousing
Resourcing and skills

Sage describes the Manufacturing as “Cloud-Native” and specifically notes that it services the discrete manufacturing and distribution area.

Earlier this year Sage launched this program in France in March 2022 when they stated “France is the first country in a planned international rollout of Sage Intacct Manufacturing across 2022 and beyond, including integration with Sage Intacct core financials, and other Sage finance solutions.”

There is no additional information on which region(s) this program might launch to next.

July 15, 2022 by Wayne Schulz

Microsoft Split Channel Role into Two Ahead of Inspire

In a blog post yesterday, Microsoft announced that Nicole Dezen will assume the newly created title of Chief Partner Officer ( CPO ) as well as retaining her Corporate Vice President of Global Partner Solutions role.

According to a report at ZDNET by Mary Jo Foley, Dezen will not be the new channel chief. Previously the channel chief role was held by Rodney Clark who departed for Johnson Controls where he became VP and Chief Commercial Officer in May 2022.

According to a statement from Microsoft which was supplied to ZDNET:

The channel chief role, previously held by Rodney Clark, will be split into two distinct leadership roles; one of which will be directly tied to sales with our channel partners and led by David Smith, new VP Channel Sales; and the other led by Julie Sanford, VP GTM, Programs and Experiences, with direct accountability for programs and offerings. The decision to evolve what formerly had been a single role into two distinct areas of responsibility is a reflection of the growing importance and breadth of our partner ecosystem all-up.

These moves come amidst significant partner changes with Microsoft recently postponing a revamped billing program termed New Customer Experience ( NCE ) that potentially sees partners taking on more of a financial role with customer licensing.