Category: Human Capital

2025 Report: The New Wave of #WorkTech Innovation

14/1/2025

The last couple of years have been difficult for most businesses in the HR Tech and broader Work Tech ecosystem. However, it appears we have reached yet another inflection point.

A new wave of innovation is spurring both customer demand and further investment into the sector. Meanwhile, 2024 was a record year for M&A. Acquisitions jumped 19% year over year beating the previous record in 2022. M&A valuation multiples also picked up for in-demand assets.

In this 2025 report by Venero Capital Advisors we review the latest HR Tech and Work Tech themes and competitive dynamics, funding landscape, M&A activity, company valuations, outlook for the sector and more.

Future of Work M&A and Investment Activity - June 2020

6/7/2020

Review of the June 2020 HR Tech M&A and fundraising activity, update on HR Tech valuations and peer benchmarking, job market activity by country, and key highlights from earnings reports other operational updates.

Future of Work M&A and Investment Activity - May 2020

3/6/2020

Review of the May 2020 HR Tech M&A and fundraising activity, update on HR Tech public market valuations and peer benchmarking, job market activity by country and key highlights from earnings reports and outlook statements by listed HR Tech companies.

Key takeaways from Venero's 2019 HR Tech M&A and investment report

23/7/2019

We are delighted to present our 2019 analysis of M&A and investment trends in the HR Tech sector. This is the second year in a row we release such a report, after the overwhelmingly positive reception of the inaugural publication.

Similar to last year, in this report we share some of the insights and observations we have gathered from working with companies and investors in the Human Capital Management space over the last 12 months. We review the most prevalent M&A and investment themes, analyse notable transactions and highlight the factors that are likely to drive corporate finance activity for HR Tech businesses going forward.

Below are the key takeaways. You can request the full report here.

Workday Announces Acquisition of Adaptive Insights

12/6/2018

Highlights:

Workday announced it is acquiring Adaptive Insights for $1.55bn, or 14.2x LTM sales.
Adaptive had filed for an IPO last month and was set to go public in a few days.
In FY18 Adaptive crossed the $100 million revenue threshold and had $100 million in annual recurring subscriptions under contract.
This is Workday's third acquisition in 2018.

Salesforce Q1 FY19 Results: Firing on All Cylinders

4/6/2018

Client Briefing Note:

Salesforce reported reported Q1 FY19 revenue growth of 25% YoY, consistent with its remarkable historical performance. The company reported double-digit growth in all relevant metrics, exceeded analyst expectations and company guidance, and raised expectations for future performance across the board. Growth is showing no signs of decelerating, despite the company surpassing $12bn in ARR.

This briefing note analyses the core pillars of Salesforce's performance, the company's latest acquisitions and the implications for Salesforce's growth strategy, competitive positioning and outlook.

Learning Technologies Group acquires PeopleFluent

26/4/2018

Highlights

PeopleFluent to be acquired for $150 million
LTG will fund the acquisition through a private placing that raised £85m
Companies complement each other geographically: 63% of LTG’s revenue are from Europe/UK; 85% of PeopleFluent’s revenues are from North America
LTG will extend its product line with the addition of PeopleFluent’s recruiting, compensation, performance and succession offerings
In 2017, PeopleFluent had sales of £83m and underlying profits of £9.2m
Recurring revenues at the enlarged group will rise to 68% of the total, with group underlying profits of £23.3m

Ceridian HCM Proposes Terms For IPO

13/4/2018

Quick Take

Ceridian HCM has finalized terms for a $520 million combined private placement and IPO (NYSE:CDAY).
The firm, one of the oldest tech firms in the US, provides enterprises with human capital management software. It had sales of $751 million in 2017.
At the midpoint of the proposed range, it will have market cap of $2.8 billion and enterprise value of $3.3 billion.
Ceridian was struggling until it acquired Dayforce in 2012 for more than $100 million.
While it has strong support from insiders, it is growing more slowly than peers such as Workday, Paycom, etc.

7 Takeaways from Venero’s April-18 HR Tech Sector M&A and Investment Report

7/4/2018

Like so many other industries, the Human Capital sector is faced with continued change and disruption. From updated recruitment methods for attracting and supporting an increasingly transient workforce to employee engagement and the push towards a digital workforce experience, technology is transforming the future of work.

In the report (available here), we explore the latest HR Tech sector tends, review recent M&A and investment activity, compare valuation multiples (trading and acquisition) and analyse the strategy of key players in the space.

Read more...

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