Thoma Bravo continues to invest

The continued acquisition/investment activity of Thoma Bravo was one of the main themes of the technology industry last month.

• Connect acquired Pivotal Data and illation, South African providers of enterprise communication, customer experience (CX) and cloud contact centre solutions.
• Redwill ICT bought Opentel, a provider of ISP services.
• Alviva Holdings has received a binding offer from a consortium that includes management to buy out the business, which, if approved by shareholders, will see its listing on the JSE terminated next year.
• CodiumX, an IT investment group, has acquired a stake in Intellinexus, a South African data and analytics company.
• The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, in partnership with the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), have officially launched the AI Institute of South Africa, as well as the UJ and TUT AI hubs.
• Equinix plans to enter the South African market with a $160 million data centre investment in Johannesburg that augments its current footprint on the African continent in Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
• The High Court of South Africa has dismissed a $4.2 billion Turkcell lawsuit against MTN.
• Kocho, the UK-based provider of cyber security, identity, cloud transformation and managed services, has established operations in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Sebata has agreed to sell its 55% stake in Freshmark Systems to Hellochoice (R24.75 million).
• The appointments of new CEOs/MDs at Ayo Technology Solutions (acting), Kocho SA and SITA.

Key African news

• HOSTAFRICA acquired EAC Directory, a Kenyan hosting company.
• The 2Africa subsea cable, which will connect Africa, Europe and Asia, has landed on South African shores.
• Cellulant, a Kenyan payment services provider, is starting a South African business after months of testing the market.
• DKK Partners, a fintech company which specialises in emerging markets and foreign exchange liquidity, has opened a Ghana operation.
• Vodacom Group has acquired a 55% interest in Vodafone Egypt Telecommunications from Vodafone Europe and Vodafone International Holdings.
• Zambia’s fourth mobile phone network operator Beeline Telecom, trading as Zedmobile, has formally launched.
• The appointment of a new head at DKK in Africa.

• Accenture acquired Australia-based Fiftyfive5, a customer insights and advisory business. And through Accenture Ventures, it invested in BehaVR, a leading innovator in virtual reality digital wellness and digital therapeutics experiences; as well as Mobeus, a technology company pioneering immersive experiences through transparent computing.
• Alight purchased the ReedGroup, an expert in leave management solutions.
• Alphabet’s Intrinsic division acquired several divisions within Open Robotics, including Open Source Robotics Corporation, the for-profit arm of Open Robotics, and Open Source Robotics Corporation Singapore, known for efforts on Open-RMF for interoperability between fleets of robots and physical infrastructure. 
• BV Investment Partners-backed GWorks, a provider of software services for small and medium-sized cities and rural communities, bought Softline Data and Pubworks. Softline Data is a technology firm offering utility billing, meter reading and public alert software, and Pubworks is a public works software services company concentrated on work and operations management and fleet maintenance.
• Cognex purchased SAC Sirius Advanced Cybernetics, a German leader in lighting technology.

The High Court of South Africa has dismissed a $4.2 billion Turkcell lawsuit against MTN.

• Cognizant acquired Utegration, a solution provider specialising in SAP services and products with a focus on energy and utilities companies.
• Coral Tree Partners bought AMI Entertainment Network, provider of a digital jukebox service.
• Dropbox purchased FormSwift, a cloud-based service that gives individuals and businesses a simple solution to create, complete, edit and save critical business forms and agreements.
• India-based eNTrust, a software firm, acquired Philippines-based Eximius BPO for the CRE industry.
• EQT bought Billtrust, a cloud-based B2B billing software provider ($1.7 billion).
• FARO Technologies purchased SiteScape, an innovator in LiDAR 3D scanning software solutions for the AEC and O&M markets.
• GCX Mounting Solutions acquired Jaco, which makes and sells IT workstations for the healthcare industry.
• A Gemspring Capital Management affiliate has bought a majority interest in Amplix, a leading provider of technology advisory services and software, formed through the merger of ROI Communications, Blue Front Technology Group and allConnex.
• General Informatics, an MSP, purchased 1 Ping Security, a managed security service provider, and Vazata, another MSP that also has a data centre services business.
• Grafenia acquired Watermark Technologies, a document software and systems provider.
• Instructure Holdings bought LearnPlatform, the leading provider of technology that enables educators and their institutions to research, select and evaluate digital learning solutions.
• Laird Connectivity, a provider of wireless modules, internal antennas, IOT devices and wireless services, purchased Boundary Devices, a designing and manufacturing firm for system-on-modules and single-board computers.
• The Lumine Group, an indirect subsidiary of Constellation Software, acquired Wiztivi, a leader in building enthralling user experiences, video applications and cloud gaming solutions across all screens.
• Meta bought Luxexcel, the Netherlands-based 3D smart glass maker.
• Microsoft purchased Lumenisity, a UK-based fibre-optic cable specialist, and Fungible, a DPU company ($190 million). It also invested £1.5 billion (4%) in the London Stock Exchange Group in a deal that will see the stock exchange use the software giant’s data and cloud infrastructure.
• Motorola Solutions acquired Rave Mobile Safety, a leader in mass notification and incident management that helps organisations and public safety agencies communicate and collaborate during emergencies.
• Nova Infrastructure, an investment firm, bought Xchange Telecom, which provides internet and other services to residential and commercial customers in New York and New Jersey.
• Park Place Technologies purchased CentricsIT, an IT services company.
• Peak Rock Capital acquired Seagull Scientific, a provider of software for designing, printing and automating the production of labels, bar codes, documents and radio frequency identification tags.
• Salute Mission Critical, a data centre services firm, bought Iconicx Critical Solutions, a provider of testing and consulting services for data centres.
• Securly purchased Eduspire, an education technology company focused on transforming student movement through digital hall passes and flex period management services.
• Sentry acquired Codecov, the provider of a platform that helps to streamline developers’ workflows.
• SMA Technologies bought VisualCron, an automation, integration and task scheduling tool for Windows environments.
• Sourcepass purchased Contemporary Computer Systems, a provider of co-managed IT services to midmarket customers.
• SS&C Technologies Holdings acquired Complete Financial Ops Fund Services, a fund administration firm.
• Thoma Bravo bought Nearmap, an Australian-based location intelligence and aerial imagery firm ($706 million), and it will buy Coupa Software, the provider of a cloud-based business-spend management platform ($8 billion).
• WNS purchased The Smart Cube, a leader in platform-driven research and analytics focused on procurement and supply chain, and OptiBuy, a leading European provider of procurement platform consulting and implementation solutions.
• Aeris Communications, an internet of things/machine-to-machine (IOT/M2M) communications provider, will acquire Ericsson’s IoT Accelerator and Connected Vehicle Cloud business.
• Aligned Data Centers will buy ODATA, a massive Latin American data centre provider.
• Altice USA will retain its regional internet and cable business, Suddenlink, following a strategic review.
• Amazon has reached a deal with the European Commission to escape a fine for allegedly misusing seller data.
• Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based gaming software and venture capital platform, has taken a majority stake in Pixelynx, a music metaverse gaming platform.
• Ansys plans to acquire German-based DYNAmore Holding, a company that offers resources aimed at dynamic analysis solution development in the automotive industry.
• Antin Infrastructure Partners has purchased a majority stake in OpticalTel, a broadband provider that specialises in bulk contracts that sell internet to condominiums and homeowners’ associations.
• Applied Tech and Platte River Networks have merged to become an MSP powerhouse.
• AT&T and BlackRock are forming a joint venture to operate a fibre-optic platform in the US.
• Canada’s merger court has ruled in favour of Rogers Communications’ and Shaw Communications’ $14.8 billion merger, thus concluding a seven-month legal process.
• Cerberus Cyber Sentinel is to change its name to CISO Global.
• Constellation Software and its subsidiary, the Lumine Group, have entered into a binding agreement and plan of merger with WideOrbit, a media vertical market software provider.
• Enghouse Systems will acquire Qumu, a leading provider of cloud-based enterprise video technology.
• Equifax has made an offer to buy Boa Vista Serviços, the second-largest consumer credit bureau in Brazil ($583 million).
• Ericsson has struck a global patent licence agreement with Apple, ending a row over royalty payments for the use of 5G wireless patents in iPhones.
• Fortnite creator Epic Games will pay $520 million to settle allegations that it illegally collected children’s personal information and tricked people into making purchases.
• The European Union has charged Facebook’s parent Meta Platforms with antitrust violations for allegedly distorting competition by tying its online classified ad service to its social network.
• Facebook owner Meta Platforms has agreed to pay $725 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit accusing the social media giant of allowing third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, to access users’ personal information.
• Foxconn’s subsidiary in China has agreed to sell entire equity stake in embattled Chinese chip conglomerate Tsinghua Unigroup.
• The Halifax Group has purchased a majority stake in Milestone Technologies, an IT provider.
• IBM will acquire Octo, a government-focused digital transformation services company.
• Intel will split its graphic chips unit into two. The consumer graphics unit will be combined with its client computing group, which makes chips for personal computers, while accelerated computing teams will join the data centre and artificial intelligence business.
• Intuit has entered into an agreement to acquire SeedFi, the partner behind Credit Karma’s Credit Builder.
• L3Harris Technologies will buy Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, a rocket maker ($4.7 billion) and has signed a definitive agreement with NV5 Global to divest its Visual Information Solutions business.
• Maxar Technologies has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Advent International, a global private equity investor ($6.4 billion).
• MicroVision has signed an agreement to acquire certain assets from Ibeo Automotive Systems, a well-established lidar hardware and software provider.
• PLDT has agreed to sell another 650 towers to Unity Digital Infrastructure ($165 million).
• PricewaterhouseCoopers intends to acquire Sagence, a data science company.
• Proofpoint has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Illusive, a leader and pioneer in Identity Threat Detection and Response.
• Quanergy Systems, a maker of hi-tech sensors and related software, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
• Saudi Arabia’s PIF has taken a controlling stake in Magic Leap, the once-highflying start-up in the increasingly hot field of making augmented-reality goggles.
• Tata Communications will acquire New York-based end-to-end live video production company The Switch Enterprises.
• Tech Mahindra will sell its entire stake in its Netherlands-based subsidiary Dynacommerce Holdings to its step-down subsidiary Comviva Netherlands.
• Tecnotree will acquire CognitiveScale, a pioneer in the space of AI engineering and which provides solutions for scalable enterprise AI development and deployment.
• Trimble has agreed to acquire Transporeon, a leading cloud-based transportation management software platform ($1.88 billion).
• The Wireless Telecom Group has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its radio, baseband and software segment, CommAgility, to global space company, E-Space.
• The $175 million investment by Advent International in Tredence, a data analytics firm.
• Alteryx has invested in Manta, a data lineage company.
• Bharti Airtel has invested in Lemnisk, which offers real-time marketing automation and a secure customer data platform that is capable of orchestrating one-to-one personalisation and cross-channel customer journeys that will drive conversions, retention and growth for enterprises.
• BV Investment Partners invested in Imagenet, a provider of back-office support technology and technology-enabled outsourced services to healthcare plans.
• Trive Capital invested in Forward Slope, a provider of software and surveillance services for the defence industry.
• The $100 million investment by Vector Capital in Malwarebytes, which offers device protection, privacy and prevention to consumers and organisations.
• The $200 million investment co-led by Iconiq Growth and GGV Capital in Drata, a security and compliance automation start-up.
• The $196.5 million investment led by Qatar Investment Authority in Snyk, a provider of developer security technology.
• The investment led by Square Peg and asset manager Wellington Management, an e-commerce firm, in Rokt, a tech start-up.
• The $117 million investment led by Updata Partners in Nerdio, a vendor that sells services to help Microsoft partners deploy native virtual desktops.
• The appointments of new CEOs at AMC Networks (interim), Anaplan, Boomi, CompuCom, Digital Realty, Enfusion, ICANN (interim), Indus Towers, Rigetti Computing, Rockley Photonics, Securonix, Slack, Vodafone (interim), Workday, Yuga Labs and Zebra Technologies.
• The death of Sherwin Seligsohn, founder of Universal Display.
• IPO filings from Direct Communications Solutions (NYSE), Indegene (India), Intchains Group (Nasdaq), QuantaSing (Nasdaq) and Tata Play (India).
• IPOs/listings from ECARX, a Chinese mobility tech company (Nasdaq) and Kingsoft Cloud (Hong Kong).

• According to IDC, the MEA personal computing devices market, which is made up of desktops, notebooks, workstations and tablets, posted a year-on-year decline of 12.8% during the third quarter of 2022 and is forecast to decline 24.9% year on year in Q4 2022, with a total of 5.1 million units shipped.
• According to IDC, Africa’s overall mobile phone market suffered a year-on-year decline of 19.9% in Q322 to total 42.2 million units. The feature phone market was down 20.1% YOY to 24.4 million units, while smartphone shipments declined 19.8% to 17.8 million units.

• JSE All share index: Down 2.4%
• FTSE100: Down 1.6%
• DAX: Down 3.3%
• NYSE (Dow): Down 4.2%
• S&P 500: Down 5.9%
• Nasdaq: Down 8.7%
• Nikkei225: Down 6.1%
• Hang Seng: Up 6.4%
• Shanghai: Down 2%

In Nasdaq’s annual shuffle of its Nasdaq 100 index, Datadog, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks and Zscaler were among those added to the index, while CDW, Cerner and Check Point Software Technologies were among those removed.