Cherry Tree has been tracking trends and activity in the Technology Enabled Business Services (TEBS) space for more than 15 years, including the TEBS 100 index, which is a broad index of 100 publicly-traded TEBS companies. The four segments of the TEBS 100 are:
  • Software
  • Business Process Services
  • Information Services
  • Infrastructure Services
Each issue of this newsletter highlights transactions involving TEBS companies, as well as performance metrics for the TEBS 100. Cherry Tree also produces a quarterly TEBS report which is available for download:
Cherry Tree has more than 30 years of experience working with businesses in the TEBS space, originally as an investor and now as a provider of investment banking services. Our clients include companies seeking to sell their businesses or divest non-core assets, as well as strategic and financial buyers looking to make acquisitions. 

Contact Mik Gusenius at  mgusenius@cherrytree.com  with any questions.
Notable Transactions - November 2017

Bazaarvoice to be Acquired by Marlin Equity Partners
Software
Bazaarvoice (Nasdaq:BV) has agreed to be acquired by Marlin Equity Partners for more than $500 million. Marlin's offer of $5.50 per share represented a 15% premium to the previous closing price, and values the company at 2.2x Revenue. Bazaarvoice provides solutions that allow customers to capture and analyze consumer-generated content, ratings and reviews.  Article

Synopsys to Acquire Black Duck Software
Software
Synopsis (Nasdaq:SNPS) has agreed to acquire Black Duck Software for $565 million. Black Duck provides security software that helps clients manage their open source software. Synopsis expects the acquisition to provide $55-60 million in incremental revenue in their 2018 fiscal year.  Article

Carlyle Group Acquires BenefitMall
Business Process Services
The Carlyle Group has acquired BenefitMall for an undisclosed amount. BenefitMall generates more than $200 million of annual revenue by providing payroll and employee benefits services to 200,000 small and medium-sized businesses. Article

Appen to Acquire Leapforce
Business Process Services
Leapforce has agreed to be acquired by Australian company Appen for $80 million (1.7x Revenue, 9.1x EBITDA). Leapforce provides human evaluation and annotation of data for use in social media and search engine relevance.  Article

Barracuda Networks to be Acquired by Thoma Bravo
Infrastructure Services
Thoma Bravo has agreed to acquire Barracuda Networks (NYSE:CUDA) for $1.6 billion, a 16% premium to the stock's previous closing price. The purchase price represents an EV/Revenue multiple of 3.8x and an EV/EBITDA multiple of 43.1x. Barracuda provides network and data storage cyber-security products.  Article

Zayo Group to Acquire Spread Networks
Infrastructure Services
Spread Networks has agreed to be acquired by Zayo Group (NYSE:ZAYO) for $127 million. Spread Networks owns a low latency direct fiber route between Chicago and New York, and the acquisition helps Zayo build out its fiber network. Zayo expects the acquisition to create an incremental $10.5 million of annualized EBITDA.  Article

Verisk Analytics to Acquire Power Advocate
Information Services
Power Advocate has agreed to be acquired by Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) for $200 million, plus contingent consideration of up to $80 million. Power Advocate provides market intelligence to the energy sector. The upfront purchase price represents an EV/Revenue multiple of 5.6x.  Article

Farmer's Business Network Raises $110 Million
Information Services
Farmer's Business Network has raised $110 million in a Series D round from Kleiner Perkins, T. Rowe Price, Temasek and other investors. The company had already raised $80 million since being founded in 2014. Farmer's Business Network allows farmers to share data with other members to improve operations, and is building out e-commerce and crop marketing products.  Article
TEBS 100 Index Performance
TEBS 100 Index Matrics
Cherry Tree & Associates is a private investment banking firm headquartered in Minneapolis. Our firm specializes in serving middle market companies and their owners, whether private, public, or divisions of larger corporations.


Prepared by:
Mik Gusenius,  Director

Phone: 952.253.6005
Important Disclosures

The information included in this publication has been obtained from public sources, and is not based upon private or confidential Cherry Tree information. Cherry Tree gathers its data from sources it considers reliable. However, it does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided within this publication. Any opinions presented reflect the current judgment of the authors and are subject to change. Cherry Tree makes no warranties, expressed or implied, regarding the accuracy of this information or any opinions expressed by the authors. Officers, directors, partners of Cherry Tree and Cherry Tree proprietary investment funds may have positions in the securities of the companies discussed, and certain affiliates of Cherry Tree may recommend to specific clients the purchase and sale of securities discussed in the publication. This publication does not constitute a recommendation with respect to the securities of any company discussed herein, and it should not be construed as such. Cherry Tree or its affiliates may from time to time provide investment banking or related services to these companies. Like all Cherry Tree employees, the authors of this publication receive compensation that is affected by overall firm profitability. We undertake no obligation to update any information in this publication.

The TEBS Performance Index is a hypothetical index, and does not reflect an actual investment portfolio. Comparisons between the TEBS Index and other indices are for illustrative purposes only. Correlations in performance information for the TEBS Performance Index and other indices should not be relied upon as indicative of risks involved in owning or holding a portfolio of securities similar to the TEBS Performance Services Index. Past performance should not be relied upon as indicative of future performance.