The top strategic buyers of software companies come in two kinds, and the kind decides what a sale looks like. Serial consolidators such as Constellation Software, Visma and Valsoft buy niche software businesses to keep for good: the brand, the team and the management stay, the process is fast, and the price is set against a return target. Product-driven strategics such as Microsoft, Cisco and IBM buy technology for their own products: they integrate the business, take longer, and can pay above standalone value when the fit is right. This page ranks the 20 most active of them, ten of each kind, by software acquisitions announced from 2015 to 2025.
Private equity owners put operating companies such as Visma, Aptean and The Access Group on buy-and-build programs, and we count those platforms among the consolidators; the product strategics, led by Microsoft and Alphabet, front-loaded their buying into 2015-2019 and pulled back after.
Who will buy my software business?
| Your company | First buyer group to investigate |
|---|---|
| Vertical software, a few million in revenue, sticky customers | Constellation, Valsoft, Banyan |
| Regional business software, accounting or ERP-adjacent | Visma, TeamSystem, The Access Group |
| AI, security, data infrastructure or developer tooling | The product strategics |
| Category leader at platform scale | Both groups, in the same process |
If you run vertical market software with sticky customers and a few million in revenue, the serial consolidators are the buyers most likely to write to you. Constellation, Valsoft and Banyan alone announced 421 acquisitions in 2023-2025, and businesses with your profile are their core diet, often at $2-20 million of revenue and in any geography. If your product is business software with strong cloud metrics in a specific region, the regional champions are the natural fit, and they pay up for those metrics: Visma across Europe and Latin America, TeamSystem in Italy and increasingly beyond, The Access Group in the UK and Asia Pacific, EG in the Nordics.
If your technology fills a capability gap in AI, security, data infrastructure or developer tooling, the product strategics belong on your list even though they close far fewer deals, because they can pay above what your business is worth on its own. IBM, Cisco and ServiceNow have kept buying through the AI cycle, with 17, 17 and 14 acquisitions in 2023-2025 respectively, and a single deal like Moveworks or Armis carries more value than a consolidator’s entire year of buying.
A company can fit more than one of these rows, and that is the argument for a competitive process: the consolidator’s certainty prices against the strategic’s ambition. The practical first steps are knowing which specific buyers have been active in your niche and preparing your business for sale before the first conversation.
What the two buyer models mean for sellers
| Permanent-hold consolidators | Product-driven strategics | |
|---|---|---|
| What they buy | Cash-generative niche software | Technology, product capability, teams |
| Why | Underwritten to a financial return | Product and distribution synergies |
| After closing | Brand, team and management stay | Integrated, brand often disappears |
| Price | Disciplined, walks away when bidding gets rich | Can justify a premium above standalone value |
| Process | Fast, standardized, high deal certainty | Slower, deeper diligence, certainty depends on roadmap |
Serial consolidators hold acquisitions permanently on their own balance sheet and rarely integrate them: the brand, the team and usually the founder’s management structure stay in place, and the parent adds reporting discipline, pricing know-how and capital. The trade-off sits in the price: these buyers underwrite to a return target, walk away when bidding gets rich, and price the business on its own cash flow, since they plan no revenue or cost synergies to pay for. Selling to one resembles selling to a private equity platform: they respond quickly, run lean diligence with small deal teams and give high certainty of close. We cover the model in detail in Selling your business to a software roll-up.
Product-driven strategics buy for capability and roadmap. The target’s technology or team fills a gap in a larger product strategy, which means full integration, retention packages for key engineers, and often the disappearance of the acquired brand. Because the buyer expects the asset to be worth more inside its distribution machine, it can justify paying above standalone value, and the highest multiples on this page, Cisco’s 22.2x, Salesforce’s 13.2x and IBM’s 10.7x revenue, all come from this group. The cost is process friction: deeper diligence, more functions involved, slower approvals, and deal certainty that depends on strategic priorities that can shift mid-process. Our note on strategic vs financial buyers covers how these dynamics play out at the negotiating table.
The top strategic buyers of software companies at a glance
The two rankings below are the evidence for that advice: read the totals for how often a buyer returns to the market, the period columns for whether it is still buying, and the last column for the size of what it buys.
Deal counts cover software acquisitions announced from 2015 to 2025 and since completed, with corporate families consolidated, and the IT services and Other columns show each buyer’s remaining acquisitions. Average deal size is calculated only on the minority of transactions with a disclosed price. Treat the column as directional, closer to an upper bound than to a typical purchase price; the number of disclosed deals is shown in brackets.
Top 10 serial consolidators by acquisition count, 2015-2025
| # | Buyer | 2015-2019 | 2020-2022 | 2023-2025 | Total | IT services | Other | Avg. disclosed value* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Constellation Software (incl. Volaris, Harris, Jonas, TSS (Topicus), Vela, Perseus, Lumine and Modaxo) | 218 | 294 | 285 | 797 | 18 | 30 | $92m (40) |
| 2 |  Visma | 63 | 103 | 79 | 245 | 33 | 14 | $120m (18) |
| 3 |  Valsoft | 20 | 44 | 65 | 129 | 1 | 1 | $15m (6) |
| 4 |  Banyan Software | 3 | 16 | 71 | 90 | 3 | 2 | $21m (11) |
| 5 |  The Access Group | 25 | 41 | 23 | 89 | 1 | 6 | $63m (56) |
| 6 |  Aptean | 19 | 23 | 17 | 59 | 4 | 1 | $106m (6) |
| 7 |  TeamSystem | 19 | 11 | 19 | 49 | 47 | 9 | $37m (35) |
| 8 |  EG | 12 | 23 | 13 | 48 | 2 | 1 | $57m (10) |
| 9 |  Vitec Software Group | 17 | 15 | 15 | 47 | 0 | 0 | $19m (31) |
| 10 |  MRI Software | 21 | 20 | 4 | 45 | 1 | 7 | $71m (12) |
Top 10 product-driven strategic buyers by acquisition count, 2015-2025
| # | Buyer | 2015-2019 | 2020-2022 | 2023-2025 | Total | IT services | Other | Avg. disclosed value* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Microsoft | 58 | 24 | 2 | 84 | 2 | 19 | $2.14bn (14) |
| 2 |  Alphabet (Google) | 47 | 20 | 8 | 75 | 8 | 29 | $2.64bn (14) |
| 3 |  Cisco | 33 | 15 | 17 | 65 | 5 | 6 | $2.16bn (21) |
| 4 |  IBM | 23 | 17 | 17 | 57 | 38 | 2 | $4.48bn (14) |
| 5 |  WiseTech Global | 36 | 7 | 10 | 53 | 2 | 1 | $107m (28) |
| 6 |  Apple | 31 | 12 | 9 | 52 | 3 | 21 | $76m (13) |
| 7 |  Salesforce | 26 | 11 | 14 | 51 | 5 | 3 | $3.19bn (21) |
| 8 |  Hexagon | 29 | 14 | 8 | 51 | 26 | 25 | $1.24bn (4) |
| 9 |  Bentley Systems | 16 | 15 | 7 | 38 | 8 | 0 | $875m (2) |
| 10 |  ServiceNow | 12 | 11 | 14 | 37 | 3 | 0 | $696m (20) |
The last column is the most telling contrast between the two groups. Disclosed deals by serial consolidators average between $15 million and $120 million, while the product strategics’ averages run from about $75 million into the billions, with IBM at $4.5 billion. Medians sit far lower for most buyers: Constellation’s median disclosed deal is $21.7 million against its $92 million average, which shows how much a handful of large transactions pull these figures up. WiseTech and Apple are the exceptions among the strategics: both buy mostly small targets, one to roll up a niche, the other to hire teams. The gap between the groups measures the size of what each buys. Product strategics periodically take platform assets worth billions, and IBM’s average carries Red Hat at $32.6 billion, Confluent at $11.5 billion, HashiCorp at $6.4 billion and Apptio at $4.6 billion inside a sample of fourteen disclosed prices.
Serial consolidators: the permanent-hold acquirers
1) Constellation Software
Overview: Constellation buys small vertical market software businesses, keeps them running as standalone companies inside one of its operating groups, and pays at the low end of the market: a median 1.0x revenue on the 22 deals with a known revenue multiple, under a third of the 3.4x median across 1,028 private software deals. It leads the 2015-2025 ranking with 797 software acquisitions in our records, more than twice the count of any other buyer. Founded in Toronto in 1995 by Mark Leonard and listed on the TSX, it buys through operating groups including Volaris, Harris, Jonas, TSS (Topicus), Vela, Perseus, Lumine and Modaxo.
Acquisition pace: 218 deals in 2015-2019, 294 in 2020-2022, 285 in 2023-2025. The yearly pace more than doubled after 2019 and has held at about 97 since; only 40 of the 797 deals carried a disclosed price, at a median of $21.7 million.
Typical target: niche vertical market software with a loyal customer base, in any geography, usually small enough that the price is never announced.
Select transactions: In 2015, Volaris acquired Kinetic Solutions, a UK provider of student accommodation and event management software. In 2023, Lumine acquired Nokia’s device and service management platform businesses for roughly $203 million. In 2025, Topicus agreed to acquire a 14.84% stake in Asseco Poland for about $257 million, a rare move into minority positions in listed companies that sits outside the 797.
Full profile: Constellation Software acquisitions covers its operating groups, how it structures a deal and what happens after closing.
2) Visma
Overview: Visma buys cloud business software, keeps the local brands, and pays up for cloud metrics: a median 4.7x revenue on 14 priced deals. With 245 acquisitions it is Europe’s busiest software buyer. Headquartered in Oslo and formed in 1996, it is majority-owned by Hg with co-investors and reported revenue of €2.8 billion in 2025.
Acquisition pace: 63 deals in 2015-2019, 103 in 2020-2022, 79 in 2023-2025, with the busiest years in 2021 and 2022.
Typical target: cloud business software for SMBs and the public sector, originally Nordic, now across Europe and Latin America.
Select transactions: The 2015 purchase of Danish accounting software provider e-conomic for around $227 million set the cloud accounting template. Holded, a Spanish business management platform, followed in 2021 for about $143 million. In 2025 Visma paid roughly $323 million for ContaAzul, a Brazilian accounting software company, one of its two largest disclosed acquisitions in our records, alongside Silverfin in 2023.
Full profile: Visma acquisitions covers its earn-outs and what happens after closing.
3) Valsoft
Overview: Valsoft buys vertical software businesses, mostly small and at undisclosed prices, and has paid a median 1.1x revenue on 5 priced deals. It has completed 129 acquisitions, the steepest growth curve on this list after Banyan. The Montreal company was started in 2015 by Sam Youssef, operates through its Aspire Software division, and now owns more than 150 vertical software businesses.
Acquisition pace: 20 deals in 2015-2019, 44 in 2020-2022, 65 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: mission-critical vertical software in niches such as hospitality, logistics and dealership management.
Select transactions: InnQuest Software, a US hospitality property management provider acquired in 2016, was among its first platform verticals. H&L Australia, a point-of-sale software business, followed in 2019 for about $6.8 million. In 2025 Valsoft agreed to acquire Quorum Information Technologies, a listed Canadian dealership management software provider, for roughly $44 million.
Full profile: Valsoft acquisitions covers its operating groups and its cash-at-closing terms.
4) Banyan Software
Overview: Banyan buys software businesses to hold permanently and positions itself to founders as a succession option rather than an exit to a fund. Founded in Atlanta in 2016 by David Berkal, it has made 90 acquisitions, most of them since 2023.
Acquisition pace: 3 deals in 2015-2019, 16 in 2020-2022, 71 in 2023-2025, the sharpest late acceleration on either list.
Typical target: small enterprise software businesses with entrenched customers, almost never announced with a price.
Select transactions: Its first recorded deal was Medicat, a US provider of health records software for college clinics, in 2017. The 2025 purchase of Medtech Global, an Australian clinical management software provider, at about $114 million is the largest of its 11 acquisitions with a public price.
5) The Access Group
Overview: The Access Group buys mid-market business software one vertical at a time and pays a median 5.3x revenue on 55 priced deals. It made 89 software acquisitions. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Loughborough, the UK company is backed by Hg and TA Associates, with GIC joining at a £9.2 billion valuation in 2022.
Acquisition pace: 25 deals in 2015-2019, 41 in 2020-2022, 23 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: business software for mid-market organizations, built vertical by vertical in the UK, then Ireland and Asia Pacific.
Select transactions: Recruitment software specialist First Choice Software, bought in 2015, typifies the early UK vertical deals. CoreHR, an Irish HR and payroll provider, came in 2020 for about $200 million. Pay360, a payments business carved out of Capita in 2022 for roughly $171 million, extended the group into fintech and counts in the Other column.
Full profile: The Access Group acquisitions covers how it pays.
6) Aptean
Overview: Aptean buys industry software to build out its group and has paid a median 3.1x revenue on 6 priced deals. Based in Alpharetta, Georgia, it was formed in 2012 under Vista Equity Partners ownership, has made 59 acquisitions, and is now backed by TA Associates, Insight Partners, Charlesbank and Clearlake.
Acquisition pace: 19 deals in 2015-2019, 23 in 2020-2022, 17 in 2023-2025, tilting toward European manufacturing and logistics software in recent years.
Typical target: industry-specific ERP and supply chain software, increasingly in Europe.
Select transactions: Medworxx, a Canadian healthcare software provider, was acquired in 2015 for about $10 million. Sanderson Group, a listed UK software business, followed in 2019 at roughly $99 million. The 2025 acquisition of Logility, a US supply chain planning provider, at about $482 million is its largest disclosed purchase.
Full profile: Aptean acquisitions covers its owners and how it funds its buying.
7) TeamSystem
Overview: TeamSystem buys business software for Italian SMEs and professionals and pays a median 4.8x revenue on 38 priced deals. It has completed 49 software acquisitions, and its yearly pace rose by about two thirds between the first and last sub-periods. Founded in 1979 in Pesaro, Italy, it has Hellman & Friedman as majority shareholder alongside Silver Lake, ADIA and CapitalG.
Acquisition pace: 19 deals in 2015-2019, 11 in 2020-2022, 19 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: SME business software in Italy, with a growing appetite for fintech, AI and international targets.
Select transactions: A 51% stake in Fatture in Cloud, an Italian SME invoicing startup acquired in 2015, became a core product line. Morning, an Israeli invoicing platform, was bought in 2024 for about $41 million. Sellsy, a French sales management software provider acquired in 2025, marks the French expansion.
Full profile: TeamSystem acquisitions covers its put and call structures.
8) EG
Overview: EG buys vertical software for Nordic private and public sector customers and has paid a median 4.1x revenue on 9 priced deals. It has made 48 acquisitions, most of them after Francisco Partners acquired the company from Axcel in 2019. EG was founded in 1977 and is based in Ballerup, Denmark.
Acquisition pace: 12 deals in 2015-2019, 23 in 2020-2022, 13 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: Nordic vertical software, with healthcare and the public sector as recurring themes.
Select transactions: Orn Software, a Norwegian provider of asset management software, was acquired in 2022 for about $92 million. The SaaS business of Norway’s PatientSky followed in 2023 at roughly $82 million, deepening the healthcare vertical.
Full profile: EG acquisitions covers its Nordic footprint.
9) Vitec Software Group
Overview: Vitec buys small niche software businesses, from pharmacy systems to auto workshop software, holds them permanently, and has paid a median 2.1x revenue on 30 priced deals and 9.5x EBITDA on 19. Headquartered in Umeå, Sweden, founded in 1985 and listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, Vitec Software Group completed 47 acquisitions.
Acquisition pace: 17 deals in 2015-2019, 15 in 2020-2022, 15 in 2023-2025, the steadiest cadence in the ranking.
Typical target: small Nordic vertical software with recurring revenue; recent deals reach into continental Europe.
Select transactions: Datamann, a Danish automotive software provider, was bought in 2015 for about $6.7 million. ABS Laundry Business Solutions, a Dutch provider acquired in 2022 for roughly $102 million, is its largest disclosed deal. An 80% stake in Poland’s NMG, acquired in 2025, marks the push beyond the Nordics.
Full profile: Vitec Software Group acquisitions covers its deals and the prices behind those multiples.
10) MRI Software
Overview: MRI Software buys property management and adjacent real estate software and has paid a median 3.3x revenue on 8 priced deals, though it has bought far less since 2023. Its 45 acquisitions are nearly all in real estate technology. The Solon, Ohio company is backed by GI Partners, TA Associates and Harvest Partners.
Acquisition pace: 21 deals in 2015-2019, 20 in 2020-2022, 4 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: property management and adjacent real estate software, with a strong franchise in UK public and social housing.
Select transactions: Castleton Technology, a UK social housing software provider, was acquired in 2020 for about $100 million. Capita One, a UK local government software business, followed in 2024 at roughly $256 million.
Full profile: MRI Software acquisitions covers how it structures a deal.
Product-driven strategic buyers
1) Microsoft
Overview: Microsoft buys capability and platform assets to build into its own products, and it bought only two software companies from 2023 to 2025, as it shifted capital toward its OpenAI partnership and AI infrastructure while regulatory scrutiny of big-tech M&A intensified. It made 84 software acquisitions in all, buying broadly across productivity, developer tools and security in 2015-2019. The Redmond company was founded in 1975.
Acquisition pace: 58 deals in 2015-2019, 24 in 2020-2022, 2 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: capability and platform assets across the software stack, from small security teams to the largest developer platforms.
Select transactions: Equivio, an Israeli text analytics provider, was acquired in 2015 for $150 million. GitHub followed in 2018 for $7.5 billion. Nuance Communications, bought in 2021 for about $19.3 billion, brought conversational AI and a healthcare franchise and stands as its largest software purchase of 2015-2025; the even bigger LinkedIn and Activision Blizzard deals are categorized outside software and sit in the Other column.
Full profile: Microsoft acquisitions covers what it pays and what happens after closing.
2) Alphabet (Google)
Overview: Alphabet buys cloud infrastructure, analytics and security platforms for Google Cloud, integrates them, and now closes few deals: 8 in 2023-2025 against 47 in 2015-2019, with larger checks and antitrust scrutiny on each. It made 75 software acquisitions in all, concentrated early in the period. Google was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Mountain View.
Acquisition pace: 47 deals in 2015-2019, 20 in 2020-2022, 8 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: acqui-hires in the early years; cloud infrastructure, analytics and security platforms later.
Select transactions: Apigee, an API management platform, was acquired in 2016 for about $464 million. Looker, a business intelligence provider, followed in 2019 at $2.6 billion. Mandiant, bought in 2022 for roughly $5.4 billion, became the core of Google Cloud’s security offering. The $32 billion acquisition of cloud security company Wiz, announced in 2025, counts as a software deal in our records, completed in 2026.
Full profile: Google acquisitions covers what Alphabet pays and what happens after closing.
3) Cisco
Overview: Cisco has kept buying through the AI cycle and pays the highest median multiple on this page, 22.2x revenue on 8 priced deals. Its 65 software acquisitions converted the San Jose networking group, founded in 1984, from a hardware vendor into a software and security company.
Acquisition pace: 33 deals in 2015-2019, 15 in 2020-2022, 17 in 2023-2025, with recent targets skewing toward AI.
Typical target: security, observability and network software; since 2023, AI tooling.
Select transactions: AppDynamics, an application performance monitoring provider, was acquired in 2017 for $3.7 billion days before its planned IPO. Duo Security followed in 2018 at about $2.4 billion. Splunk, announced in 2023 at roughly $29.7 billion, is Cisco’s largest acquisition ever.
Full profile: Cisco acquisitions covers what happens after closing.
4) IBM
Overview: IBM pays a median 10.7x revenue on 6 priced software deals and has kept buying while peers paused, which makes it the steadiest large buyer on the list. It completed 57 software acquisitions, plus 38 IT services acquisitions in the next column. Founded in 1911 and headquartered in Armonk, IBM has used M&A to reposition around hybrid cloud, automation and AI.
Acquisition pace: 23 deals in 2015-2019, 17 in 2020-2022, 17 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: hybrid cloud, automation, data and AI assets, from tuck-ins to the largest software deal in this ranking.
Select transactions: Explorys, a healthcare cloud analytics provider, was an early 2015 purchase for the Watson health push. Red Hat, acquired in 2018 for about $32.6 billion, remains the defining hybrid cloud bet. HashiCorp, bought in 2024 for roughly $6.4 billion, extended the infrastructure automation stack, and the 2023 Apptio deal at $4.6 billion added IT spend management.
Full profile: IBM acquisitions covers its software and IT services deals and how it structures a deal.
5) WiseTech Global
Overview: WiseTech Global buys logistics execution software, has paid a median 3.4x revenue on 16 priced deals, and uses earn-outs. Its 53 acquisitions have the most unusual shape on this list: the Sydney group rolled up customs and freight forwarding software vendors country by country after its 2016 ASX listing, then switched to fewer, larger platform deals.
Acquisition pace: 36 deals in 2015-2019, 7 in 2020-2022, 10 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: logistics execution software; first small country-specific customs vendors, now global platforms.
Select transactions: Compu Clearing, a South African customs software provider, was an early 2015 purchase at about $14 million. Envase Technologies, a US intermodal logistics software business, followed in 2023 at $230 million. The 2025 acquisition of E2open, a US supply chain platform, at roughly $2.1 billion is its largest ever.
Full profile: WiseTech Global acquisitions covers how its earn-outs work.
6) Apple
Overview: Apple buys teams and technology to fold into its own products and is rarely a plausible buyer for business software founders; the median disclosed price across its deals is $50 million. Its 52 software acquisitions are nearly all small and were unannounced until reporters found them. The Cupertino company was founded in 1976.
Acquisition pace: 31 deals in 2015-2019, 12 in 2020-2022, 9 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: consumer and on-device AI technology.
Select transactions: Shazam, the music recognition app acquired in 2017 for about $400 million, counts in the Other column as a media business. XNOR.ai, an edge AI specialist bought in 2020 for roughly $200 million, ties Lattice Data as its largest software purchase in our records and is typical of the AI tooling it has favored since.
Full profile: Apple acquisitions covers what it pays and what happens after closing.
7) Salesforce
Overview: Salesforce buys platforms that extend its customer relationship suite, pays a median 13.2x revenue on 6 priced deals, and wrote two of the period’s largest checks. Founded in San Francisco in 1999, it made 51 acquisitions of software companies.
Acquisition pace: 26 deals in 2015-2019, 11 in 2020-2022, 14 in 2023-2025. After an activist-driven pause in 2023, buying resumed and scaled back up.
Typical target: category-leading platforms adjacent to CRM; recently, data and AI assets.
Select transactions: Tableau, the analytics platform, cost about $15 billion in 2019. Slack followed in 2020 at roughly $25.6 billion, the biggest deal in its history. Informatica, a data management platform acquired in 2025 for about $9.2 billion, gives its AI agenda a data backbone.
Full profile: Salesforce acquisitions covers how it structures a deal.
8) Hexagon
Overview: Hexagon buys industrial, engineering and geospatial software that complements its sensor businesses, and it buys far less than it did: 8 deals in 2023-2025 against 29 in 2015-2019, with the recent money going to platform assets rather than small engineering tools. The Stockholm-listed measurement technology group completed 51 software acquisitions in all.
Acquisition pace: 29 deals in 2015-2019, 14 in 2020-2022, 8 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: industrial, engineering and geospatial software that complements its sensor businesses.
Select transactions: OhmTech, a Norwegian pressure vessel design software provider, was an early 2015 purchase. Infor’s enterprise asset management business, acquired in 2021 for about $2.8 billion, is its largest disclosed software deal. ETQ, a quality management software provider, followed in 2022 at $1.2 billion.
Full profile: Hexagon acquisitions covers what it pays and how it structures a deal.
9) Bentley Systems
Overview: Bentley Systems buys specialized modeling and simulation tools that plug into its design platform, all in and around infrastructure engineering, and its buying has slowed: 7 deals in 2023-2025 against 15 in 2020-2022. The Exton, Pennsylvania company, founded in 1984 and listed on Nasdaq in 2020, made 38 software acquisitions.
Acquisition pace: 16 deals in 2015-2019, 15 in 2020-2022, 7 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: niche engineering, geoscience and simulation software.
Select transactions: Seequent, a New Zealand geoscience modeling provider, was acquired in 2021 for about $1.05 billion, its largest disclosed deal. Power Line Systems, a US developer of transmission line design software, followed later that year at $700 million.
Full profile: Bentley Systems acquisitions covers what it pays and how it structures a deal.
10) ServiceNow
Overview: ServiceNow buys workflow, automation and AI capabilities for its platform, from tuck-ins at a median price of $33 million on 20 priced deals to the two largest acquisitions in its history, both in 2025. The Santa Clara company, founded in 2004, made 37 software acquisitions and changed gear as agentic AI reshaped enterprise software.
Acquisition pace: 12 deals in 2015-2019, 11 in 2020-2022, 14 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: workflow, automation and AI capabilities for the enterprise platform.
Select transactions: Appsee, a mobile app analytics provider bought in 2019, is typical of its early tuck-ins. Moveworks, an AI work automation platform, was acquired in 2025 for $2.85 billion. Armis, an IoT security provider, followed later in 2025 at $7.75 billion, the company’s largest acquisition to date.
Full profile: ServiceNow acquisitions covers what happens after closing.
What this means for founders
Repeat acquirers negotiate for a living, and a founder does it once. That asymmetry is the strongest argument for preparation: clean financials, defensible metrics and competitive tension among several plausible buyers. The figures on this page describe a market; your company will be priced in a negotiation. If you are considering a sale of a software, SaaS or IT services business in the next few years, start by finding out which of these buyers have bought in your niche, and at what price.
Considering selling your software company?
Get a data-backed view of which of these buyers, and hundreds of smaller ones, have been active in your niche and what they have paid. Talk to us.
Who is buying software companies: 2015-2025 in numbers
Software deal volume rose sharply after 2019 and has stayed above its 2015-2019 level since. The market averaged around 2,100 software acquisitions per year in 2015-2019, then jumped to almost 3,150 per year in 2020-2022 as cheap capital and pandemic-era digitization pulled buyers in. The correction that followed was shallow: volume bottomed at 2,710 deals in 2023, recovered to 2,785 in 2024 and reached 3,105 in 2025, helped by an AI-driven wave of capability acquisitions. We track pricing separately in our software valuation multiples report.
A purchase price was disclosed in only 28% of the 28,449 deals, and the median disclosed value was $25.4 million. The typical software acquisition is a small, quiet transaction, which is where the serial consolidators do most of their work.
Why an eleven-year view beats a single-year league table
A single-year ranking rewards a hot streak or a fresh fund. An eleven-year count shows which buyers return to the market in every environment: through the 2021 peak, the 2022-2023 repricing and the AI cycle since. A buyer that closed 15 deals a year for over a decade has a repeatable process, a known diligence style and a reference base of sold founders you can call. For how overall activity moved, see our report on M&A in the software industry.
Methodology
The ranking covers announced acquisitions of software companies between January 2015 and December 2025, drawn from the Aventis Advisors deal database. We grouped corporate families under one parent, so Constellation Software includes its operating groups Volaris, Harris, Jonas, TSS (Topicus), Vela, Perseus, Lumine and Modaxo; its counts follow its own profile, which adds the acquisition announcements of those groups to the database. A buyer makes the ranking only when software accounts for the majority of its deal flow: Accenture, for example, made 176 acquisitions in our technology deal records for the period, 145 of them IT services businesses, so it belongs in a different article. The 28,449 counts the whole software market; a buyer’s total counts its own family’s software deals. Deal reporting is incomplete, values are disclosed for a minority of transactions, and the list may not capture every deal a buyer completed. Financial buyers acquiring directly, such as PE funds, are excluded; PE-backed operating companies doing buy-and-build are treated as strategics.
About Aventis Advisors
Aventis Advisors is an M&A advisor for software companies. We believe the world would be better off with fewer (but better quality) M&A deals done at the right moment for the company and its owners. Our goal is to provide honest, insight-driven advice, clearly laying out all the options for our clients, including the one to keep the status quo.
Get in touch with us to discuss how much your business could be worth and how to maximize the valuation.
