Enterprise Software Consolidation
The Take-Private Wave
Aggregate announced value of landmark software take-privates by announcement year (curated census; hover for the deals behind each bar). 2022 was the crest; Dayforce's $12.3B deal in 2025 is the largest since.
Landmark Deals of the Consolidation Era
The deals that defined the wave, strategic and PE, including the one that failed: Adobe-Figma's abandonment marks the antitrust ceiling on strategic consolidation.
| Deal | Value ($B) |
|---|---|
| Broadcom acquires VMware | ~69 (incl. debt) |
| Cisco acquires Splunk | 28 |
| Schneider Electric acquires PTC | 22.6 (equity) |
| Adobe acquires Figma | 20 (abandoned) |
| Citrix to Vista and Evergreen | 16.5 |
| Thoma Bravo acquires Dayforce | 12.3 |
| Salesforce acquires Informatica | 8 |
| Smartsheet to Blackstone and Vista | 8.4 |
| IBM acquires HashiCorp | 6.4 |
| Salesforce acquires Braze | 5.66 (EV) |
| Paychex acquires Paycor | 4.1 |
| Autodesk acquires MaintainX | 3.575 |
| ServiceNow acquires Moveworks | 2.85 |
The Shrinking Public Universe
Public enterprise-software delistings per year via the tracked acquisitions, with near-zero IPO replenishment since 2021. Hover for the names behind each bar.
The Standing Bid: Flagship Software Buyout Funds
Final closes of flagship software-focused buyout funds. This is the capital that keeps a floor under mature SaaS valuations; Thoma Bravo alone closed $34.4B across three funds in June 2025.
Strategic M&A and the Antitrust Ceiling
The strategic timeline with regulatory outcomes: infrastructure and data deals clear after long reviews; the one mega-deal between direct competitors died. Five October 2026 deals (Schneider-PTC, Salesforce-Braze, Workday-C1.ai, Proofpoint-Varonis, Guidewire-hyperexponential) are still pending.
2023-11
Broadcom closes VMware (~$69B incl. debt) after EU, UK and China reviews
2023-12
Adobe abandons $20B Figma deal under EU and UK pressure; pays $1B break fee
2024-03
Cisco closes Splunk ($28B): observability consolidates into networking
2025-02
IBM closes HashiCorp ($6.4B) after FTC and UK CMA review
2025-04
Paychex closes Paycor ($4.1B): HCM consolidates
2025-11
Salesforce closes Informatica (~$8B): the agentic data layer
2025-12
ServiceNow closes Moveworks ($2.85B) after a lengthy DOJ review
2026-08
Autodesk closes MaintainX (about $3.6B in cash) on August 3, about two months after signing: operations software joins design software
2026-09
Procore closes DroneDeploy ($845.0M in cash) on September 9, six weeks after signing: jobsite imagery joins construction management
2026-10
Schneider Electric agrees to buy PTC at $205 a share (about $22.6B equity, $23.7B enterprise value); closing is targeted by Q3 2027, pending PTC shareholder and regulatory approvals
2026-10
Proofpoint, a Thoma Bravo portfolio company, agrees to buy Varonis for $49.75 a share (about $6.3B); closing is expected in the first half of 2027, pending Varonis shareholder and regulatory approvals
2026-10
Salesforce agrees to buy Braze for $47.50 a share (about $5.66B enterprise value); closing is expected in Salesforce's fiscal 2028, pending Braze shareholder and regulatory approvals
2026-10
Workday agrees to buy C1.ai, an agentic identity platform; terms are not disclosed and closing is expected in the quarter ending January 31, 2027
2026-10
Guidewire agrees to buy hyperexponential, a London-based AI underwriting and pricing platform for commercial P&C insurers, for $1.7B in cash plus up to $400M of contingent consideration on recurring revenue targets; closing is expected in the second quarter of Guidewire's fiscal 2027
Roper: Organic vs Acquisition Contribution
Roper's disclosed components of revenue growth. Organic, acquisitions, and FX are reported separately; FX was roughly zero in these years, so the stacked bars equal total growth.
Implied Deal Value to Last Fiscal Year Revenue
Announced deal value divided by the target's last full-year GAAP revenue. These are implied ratios, not the NTM multiples a buyer underwrote. Value type (enterprise value, equity, or equity net of an existing stake) differs by deal.
$6.4B EV net of cash on FY2024 GAAP $583M revenue. Fiscal year ended January 31, 2024; closed Feb 2025.
$8.4B transaction on FY2024 GAAP $958M revenue. Fiscal year ended January 31, 2024.
$12.3B EV on FY2024 GAAP $1.76B revenue. All-cash take-private; closed Feb 2026.
~$28B equity on FY2024 GAAP $4.216B revenue. Cisco: approximately $28 billion in equity value; closed Mar 2024.
~$8B equity net of stake on FY2024 GAAP $1.64B revenue. Salesforce already held a stake; closed Nov 2025.