Financial Technology, Data, and Analytics

Dear Clients and Friends,

Ou EDA Market Update on m&a trends for the four segments of the Enterprise Data & Analytics sector that we follow, and sometimes lead, can be found below.

Increasingly, it’s starting to look like the early phases of a revolution.

The way in which some modern businesses are managed – using massive amounts of data and analytic tools to determine what they will buy or sell, through what channel, at what price, etc. – is much talked about and yet, for at least three reasons, the revolutionary power of these tools has not yet been fully grasped.

First, in spite of the talk, only a small percentage of businesses are actually using these tools in a meaningful way. Second, for those businesses that do take advantage of the tools, most of the action takes place out of sight. And third, the revolutionary power of these tools is just beginning to be tapped. This post is mostly about that third factor. The revolution is coming. Count on it.

The revolution is already making it much easier for leading edge managers to do a lot more than monitor and measure performance. They now can get systems that are flexible and interactive – allowing the user to define the questions he/she wants answered (“What happened?”, “What will happen?”, “What if?” etc. ) without being limited to parameters set by some (computer) programmer. Clients are getting analyzed data in near real-time, on tablets, and mobile devices. They now can have systems that take advantage of the native capabilities of these devices, such as touchscreen, camera and location awareness. They can integrate with third-party data and applications. They are getting systems that allow them to look forwards not just backwards – predicting outcomes. They are seeing data in ways that – as Gartner says: “…go beyond those of basic pie, bar and line charts, to include trellis, heat and tree maps, scatter plots, and other special-purpose visuals….”  For those who dare, it is now possible to use modern enterprise data and analytical tools combined with local knowledge to increase efficiency a hundred fold – and that is revolutionary.

It’s a brave new world. We’re just at the beginning. Read more in our April 2017 EDA Market Update, below.

Our report found below notes recent m&a values and trends for many of these firms. Some recent interesting transactions include:

• Wolters Kluwer (ENXTAM:WKL) agreed to acquire Tagetik from White Bridge Investments for €300mm (~$317mm) at an implied 5.2x LTM revenue,
• MuleSoft (NYSE:MULE), raised $221mm in an IPO, priced at $17 per share, implying an enterprise value of $2.9bn and valuing the company at an implied 15.5x LTM revenue,
• Alteryx (NYSE:AYX) raised $126mm in an IPO, implying an enterprise value of $905mm and valuing the company at an implied 10.5x LTM revenue,
• Euromoney Institutional Investor (LSE:ERM) has agreed to acquire RISI from AXIO Group Management for $125mm valuing the company at an implied 4.2x LTM revenue and 16.2x LTM EBITDA.

Please see our full April 2017 Enterprise Data & Analytics Market Update, below.