Thoma Bravo has agreed to acquire Verint for a reported $2 billion, including debt. The deal values the tech provider at this amount and marks an attempt by the private equity firm to reinvent the company’s offerings.
Upon completion, Verint will merge with Calabrio, its workforce engagement management (WEM) rival, which Thoma Bravo owns. This move brings together two of the “big three” WEM providers, NiCE being the other.
The acquisition has significant implications for the customer experience space. Many businesses have implemented CX solutions that include Verint modules and integrations on the back-end, making it crucial for third-party vendors to reassess their products, roadmaps, and conflicts of interest. Thoma Bravo may decide to increase prices, affecting these customers.
However, if successful, the new brand emerging from the merger could create a competitive force in the customer experience space. Verint has struggled to establish itself as a core decision-making point within this ecosystem, despite being a trusted vendor for 85 Fortune 100 companies.
This deal is Thoma Bravo’s third attempt at reinventing Verint since it was first acquired in 2023. The firm aims to create tighter enterprise bonds with its customers, but history may repeat itself if the new company fails to achieve this goal.
The acquisition comes as businesses focus on reducing their tech stacks and companies like CCaaS players try to close the gap on Verint’s feature advantage. A private equity takeover has made sense for Verint, allowing it to plan for longer-term objectives rather than quarterly results.
Zeus Kerravala, Principal Analyst at ZK Research, had previously suggested that a private equity takeover would be beneficial for Verint, enabling it to reinvent itself before it’s too late. The new Verint-Calabrio will now attempt to establish more meaningful enterprise partnerships and build towards a strategy that sets it apart from competitors.
Source: https://www.cxtoday.com/workforce-engagement-management/verint-close-to-2bn-takeover-by-thoma-bravo-reports