Koch Industries acquires stake in enterprise software provider Infor for more than $2 bn
17 Nov 2016
Koch Equity Development LLC, the investment arm of Koch Industries, has acquired a significant stake in enterprise software provider Infor, for more than $2 billion.
The transaction is the largest investment by Koch Equity Development and it's biggest in the technology industry.
The deal values New York-based Infor at over $10 billion. The deal will give Koch four seats on the Infor board, while four others will be controlled by current investors Golden Gate Capital, Summit Partners, and one by Infor CEO, Charles Phillips.
"The support we are providing to Infor marks one of the largest investments KED has ever made and demonstrates the confidence we have in Infor's technology, team and business model," said, Matt Flamini, president of Koch Equity Development.
The investment, in the form of preferred and common equity, is expected to close in early 2017.
Infor is a supplier of enterprise resource planning, software that helps companies track the various components of their businesses. Infor's cloud strategy uses Amazon Web Services, which allows it to invest in deep industry functionality instead of maintaining its own data-center infrastructure.
Infor has acquired over forty other software companies since its founding in 2002. It has around 58 million cloud users and around 90,000 corporate customers. It competes with Oracle, SAP SE and IBM Corp.
Among its customers include Bausch & Lomb, Ferrari, Heineken, Wyndham Hotels, Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, Boskalis, EBSCO, Legacy Health, and Best Western International.
Koch Industries, run by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, is one of the world's largest private companies involved in manufacturing, trading, and investments. It was founded as Wood River Oil and Refining Company in 1940, and later renamed Rock Island Oil & Refining Company.
With annual revenue of $115 billion, Koch employs about 60,000 people in the US and another 40,000 in 59 other countries.
