Those eleven years reshaped who buys software businesses. Serial consolidators built for permanent ownership, led by Constellation Software, scaled from a niche model into the dominant force by deal count. Private equity firms put operating companies such as Visma, Aptean and The Access Group on aggressive buy-and-build programs. Meanwhile, the large product-driven strategics behaved very differently: Microsoft and Alphabet front-loaded their buying into 2015-2019 and then pulled back sharply, while IBM and Cisco kept acquiring through the cycle, increasingly around AI, data and security after 2023.
For a founder weighing a sale in the next one to three years, the buyer’s model matters as much as the buyer’s name. The ranking below separates the two groups explicitly: serial consolidators that hold forever and rarely integrate, and product strategics that buy capabilities and absorb them. That distinction changes how you should read every number in the table. We separate operating-company acquirers into two models: permanent-hold consolidators, which include the private equity-backed buy-and-build platforms, and product-driven strategics.
Who buys software companies: 2015-2025 in numbers
Deal activity grew in every sub-period. 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 real but shallow by historical standards: 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. Pricing tells its own story, which we track separately in our software valuation multiples report.
Transparency remains poor. 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 exactly the segment 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 whoever happened to have a hot streak, a fresh fund or a large war chest in that particular year. 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. That persistence is what matters to a seller, because 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 a deeper view of 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 Volaris, Harris, Jonas, Topicus, Lumine and its other operating entities. Because consolidators’ deals are tagged inconsistently between software and IT services, family counts include both categories; software dominates every profile (for Constellation, 330 of 368 deals are tagged software). A buyer makes the ranking only when software accounts for the majority of its deal flow: Accenture, for example, announced 176 acquisitions in the period, but 150 of them were IT services businesses, so it belongs in a different article. The two figures therefore measure different things and should not be divided into one another: the 28,449 is the software-market population, while a buyer’s total is its whole corporate family’s deal flow, counted where software and IT services cannot be separated consistently. IBM is the clearest case, at 70 acquisitions of which 44 are tagged software and 26 IT services. Category boundaries also cut the other way: megadeals tagged outside software in the source data, such as Microsoft’s LinkedIn and Activision Blizzard purchases or Google’s $32 billion Wiz deal, do not appear in these counts. 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.
The top strategic buyers of software companies at a glance
The two tables below rank each buyer group separately: serial consolidators first, product-driven strategics second. Deal counts cover announced acquisitions from 2015 to 2025 by buyers whose deal flow is majority software, with corporate families consolidated; as the methodology above sets out, a family total can include a minority of IT services targets that the source data does not separate cleanly. Average deal size is calculated only on the minority of transactions with a disclosed price, and prices tend to be disclosed for the largest deals. 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 | Avg. disclosed value* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Constellation Software (incl. Volaris, Harris, Jonas, Topicus, Lumine) | 112 | 119 | 137 | 368 | $72m (31) |
| 2 |  Visma | 51 | 69 | 51 | 171 | $90m (15) |
| 3 |  Valsoft | 13 | 31 | 42 | 86 | $22m (3) |
| 4 |  Aptean | 21 | 26 | 16 | 63 | $197m (3) |
| 5 |  The Access Group | 16 | 27 | 19 | 62 | $105m (8) |
| 6 |  TeamSystem | 10 | 21 | 31 | 62 | $20m (8) |
| 7 |  Banyan Software | 3 | 9 | 34 | 46 | $114m (1) |
| 8 |  MRI Software | 21 | 19 | 5 | 45 | $72m (8) |
| 9 |  Vitec Software Group | 13 | 15 | 13 | 41 | $29m (4) |
| 10 |  EG | 5 | 19 | 13 | 37 | $69m (4) |
ClearCourse, Zucchetti and Ideagen, with 36, 36 and 35 acquisitions respectively, narrowly missed the table.
*Not a valuation benchmark. Calculated only on transactions with a disclosed price, and price is disclosed far more often on large deals than small ones.
Top 10 product-driven strategic buyers by acquisition count, 2015-2025
| # | Buyer | 2015-2019 | 2020-2022 | 2023-2025 | Total | Avg. disclosed value* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Microsoft | 46 | 23 | 2 | 71 | $1.94bn (16) |
| 2 |  IBM | 21 | 26 | 23 | 70 | $5.62bn (11) |
| 3 |  Alphabet (Google) | 39 | 18 | 6 | 63 | $789m (13) |
| 4 |  Cisco | 35 | 11 | 16 | 62 | $2.20bn (20) |
| 5 |  Salesforce | 27 | 10 | 13 | 50 | $2.83bn (24) |
| 6 |  Hexagon | 22 | 18 | 7 | 47 | $1.00bn (5) |
| 7 |  Apple | 27 | 9 | 7 | 43 | $99m (13) |
| 8 |  WiseTech Global | 34 | 2 | 6 | 42 | $84m (31) |
| 9 |  Bentley Systems | 17 | 15 | 5 | 37 | $875m (2) |
| 10 |  ServiceNow | 14 | 10 | 13 | 37 | $724m (18) |
The last column is the most telling contrast between the two groups, as long as it is read as a direction rather than a price expectation. Disclosed deals by serial consolidators average between $20 million and $197 million, while the product strategics’ averages run from hundreds of millions into the billions, with IBM at $5.6 billion. Medians sit far lower everywhere: Constellation’s median disclosed deal is about $21 million against its $72 million average, which shows how much a handful of large transactions pull these figures up. WiseTech and Apple are the exceptions that prove the rule: both buy mostly small targets, one to roll up a niche, the other to hire teams. The gap between the two groups is not a valuation multiple: it reflects the scale of what each buys. Product strategics periodically take platform assets worth billions, and IBM’s average carries Red Hat at $32.6 billion, HashiCorp at $7.7 billion and Apptio at $4.6 billion inside a sample of eleven disclosed prices. Consolidators buy small vertical software companies, over and over.
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. They rarely integrate the companies they buy: 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 will almost never pay a premium for revenue or cost synergies, because they do not plan to create any. Selling to one resembles selling to a private equity platform, and the process is typically fast and standardized. 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 largest premiums in our data came from this group. The cost is process friction: diligence is deeper, more functions get involved, approvals run slower, and deal certainty 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.
Serial consolidators: the permanent-hold acquirers
1) Constellation Software
Overview: Constellation Software leads the 2015-2025 ranking with 368 acquisitions of software companies, more than twice the count of any other buyer. Founded in Toronto in 1995 by Mark Leonard and listed on the TSX, it buys vertical market software businesses through operating groups including Volaris, Harris, Jonas, Vela, Perseus, Topicus and Lumine, and holds them permanently.
Acquisition pace: 112 deals in 2015-2019, 119 in 2020-2022, 137 in 2023-2025. Accelerating in every sub-period; only 31 of 368 deals carried a disclosed price.
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 368 and is not counted in it.
2) Visma
Overview: Visma is Europe’s busiest software buyer, with 171 acquisitions in our data. 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: 51 deals in 2015-2019, 69 in 2020-2022, 51 in 2023-2025. Steady through every market environment.
Typical target: cloud business software for SMBs and the public sector, originally Nordic, now across Europe and Latin America; local brands are kept.
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, its largest disclosed acquisition in our data.
3) Valsoft
Overview: Valsoft has completed 86 acquisitions in our data, the steepest growth curve on this list. 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: 13 deals in 2015-2019, 31 in 2020-2022, 42 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: mission-critical vertical software in niches such as hospitality, logistics and dealership management, mostly small and undisclosed.
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.
4) Aptean
Overview: Aptean has made 63 acquisitions in our data, building an industry-specific ERP and supply chain software group. Based in Alpharetta, Georgia, it was formed in 2012 under Vista Equity Partners ownership and is now backed by TA Associates, Insight Partners, Charlesbank and Clearlake.
Acquisition pace: 21 deals in 2015-2019, 26 in 2020-2022, 16 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 in our data.
5) The Access Group
Overview: The Access Group recorded 62 acquisitions in our data, almost all of them in software. 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: 16 deals in 2015-2019, 27 in 2020-2022, 19 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.
6) TeamSystem
Overview: TeamSystem has completed 62 acquisitions in our data, and its pace tripled between the first and last sub-periods. Founded in 1979 in Pesaro, Italy, it provides accounting, payroll and business management software for Italian SMEs and professionals, with Hellman & Friedman as majority shareholder alongside Silver Lake, ADIA and CapitalG.
Acquisition pace: 10 deals in 2015-2019, 21 in 2020-2022, 31 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.
7) Banyan Software
Overview: Banyan Software recorded 46 acquisitions in our data. Founded in Atlanta in 2016 by David Berkal, Banyan buys enterprise software businesses to hold permanently and positions itself to founders as a succession option rather than an exit to a fund.
Acquisition pace: 3 deals in 2015-2019, 9 in 2020-2022, 34 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 deal in our data 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 its only acquisition with a public price.
8) MRI Software
Overview: MRI Software made 45 acquisitions in our data, nearly all of them in real estate technology. The Solon, Ohio company provides property management software and is backed by GI Partners, TA Associates and Harvest Partners.
Acquisition pace: 21 deals in 2015-2019, 19 in 2020-2022, 5 in 2023-2025. Front-loaded, with buying slowing markedly since 2023.
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.
9) Vitec Software Group
Overview: Vitec Software Group completed 41 acquisitions in our data. Headquartered in Umeå, Sweden, founded in 1985 and listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, Vitec buys small niche software businesses, from pharmacy systems to auto workshop software, and holds them permanently.
Acquisition pace: 13 deals in 2015-2019, 15 in 2020-2022, 13 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.
10) EG
Overview: EG has made 37 acquisitions in our data, most of them after Francisco Partners acquired the company from Axcel in 2019. Founded in 1977 and based in Ballerup, Denmark, EG builds vertical software for Nordic private and public sector customers.
Acquisition pace: 5 deals in 2015-2019, 19 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.
Product-driven strategic buyers
1) Microsoft
Overview: Microsoft made 71 acquisitions of software companies in our data, nearly all of them early in the period. The Redmond giant, founded in 1975, bought broadly across productivity, developer tools and security in 2015-2019, then shifted capital toward its OpenAI partnership and AI infrastructure while regulatory scrutiny of big-tech M&A intensified.
Acquisition pace: 46 deals in 2015-2019, 23 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, securing the platform at the center of developers’ daily workflow. Nuance Communications, bought in 2021 for about $19.3 billion, brought conversational AI and a healthcare franchise and stands as its largest software purchase in our 2015-2025 data; the even bigger LinkedIn and Activision Blizzard deals are categorized outside software and are not counted here.
2) IBM
Overview: IBM completed 70 acquisitions in our data, split between 44 software and 26 IT services targets, and it is the steadiest large buyer on the list. Founded in 1911 and headquartered in Armonk, IBM has used M&A to reposition around hybrid cloud, automation and AI while peers paused.
Acquisition pace: 21 deals in 2015-2019, 26 in 2020-2022, 23 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 $7.7 billion, extended the infrastructure automation stack, and the 2023 Apptio deal at $4.6 billion added IT spend management.
3) Alphabet (Google)
Overview: Alphabet made 63 software acquisitions in our data, concentrated early in the period. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Mountain View, Google historically bought small teams and apps in volume, then shifted to fewer, larger cloud and security deals as Google Cloud matured; under antitrust pressure the deal count has fallen even as the checks have grown.
Acquisition pace: 39 deals in 2015-2019, 18 in 2020-2022, 6 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, anchored Google Cloud’s security offering. The $32 billion acquisition of cloud security company Wiz, announced in 2025, is categorized outside our software dataset and sits outside the count, but it dwarfs every deal before it.
4) Cisco
Overview: Cisco recorded 62 software acquisitions in our data as it converted itself from a hardware vendor into a software and security company. The San Jose networking group was founded in 1984.
Acquisition pace: 35 deals in 2015-2019, 11 in 2020-2022, 16 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 and one of the biggest software deals of the entire period.
5) Salesforce
Overview: Salesforce made 50 acquisitions of software companies in our data and wrote two of the period’s largest checks. Founded in San Francisco in 1999, it buys platforms that extend its customer relationship suite.
Acquisition pace: 27 deals in 2015-2019, 10 in 2020-2022, 13 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.
6) Hexagon
Overview: Hexagon completed 47 software acquisitions in our data as the Stockholm-listed measurement technology group assembled an industrial software portfolio.
Acquisition pace: 22 deals in 2015-2019, 18 in 2020-2022, 7 in 2023-2025, moving from small engineering tools toward platform assets.
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.
7) Apple
Overview: Apple made 43 software acquisitions in our data, nearly all of them small and unannounced until reporters found them. The Cupertino company, founded in 1976, buys teams and technology to fold into its products.
Acquisition pace: 27 deals in 2015-2019, 9 in 2020-2022, 7 in 2023-2025. The median disclosed price across its deals is just $50 million.
Typical target: consumer and on-device AI technology; rarely a plausible buyer for business software founders.
Select transactions: Shazam, the music recognition app acquired in 2017 for about $400 million, is its largest software purchase in our data. XNOR.ai, an edge AI specialist bought in 2020 for roughly $200 million, is typical of the AI tooling it has favored since.
8) WiseTech Global
Overview: WiseTech Global recorded 42 acquisitions in our data with the most unusual shape on this list. The Sydney logistics software 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: 34 deals in 2015-2019, 2 in 2020-2022, 6 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.
9) Bentley Systems
Overview: Bentley Systems made 37 software acquisitions in our data, all in and around infrastructure engineering. The Exton, Pennsylvania company, founded in 1984 and listed on Nasdaq in 2020, buys specialized modeling and simulation tools that plug into its design platform.
Acquisition pace: 17 deals in 2015-2019, 15 in 2020-2022, 5 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.
10) ServiceNow
Overview: ServiceNow completed 37 acquisitions in our data and kept buying through the AI cycle, including the two largest deals in its history. The Santa Clara company, founded in 2004, historically bought small tuck-ins to extend its workflow platform, then changed gear as agentic AI reshaped enterprise software.
Acquisition pace: 14 deals in 2015-2019, 10 in 2020-2022, 13 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: workflow, automation and AI capabilities for the enterprise platform.
Select transactions: Intreis, an IT service management specialist, was an early 2015 tuck-in. 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.
What this means for founders
The buyers above answer processes differently, and knowing the difference saves months. Serial consolidators respond quickly, run lean diligence with small deal teams, and give high certainty of close, but their offers cluster around disciplined multiples and they will rarely stretch for strategic value. Product strategics can pay the standout price when your technology fits their roadmap, yet they take longer, involve more stakeholders, and sometimes walk away for reasons that have nothing to do with your business. A well-run process often includes both types precisely because each keeps the other’s offer in perspective.
Judging which of the top strategic buyers of software companies are plausible for your business starts with vertical and size. Constellation, Valsoft and their peers buy niche vertical software with sticky customers, often at $2-20 million of revenue, and they buy in every geography. Visma, TeamSystem and Access concentrate on business software in their home regions and pay up for cloud metrics. The product strategics buy capability: if you sell developer tools, security, data infrastructure or AI tooling, they belong on your list even though they close far fewer deals. Deal size follows the same logic, and our software valuation multiples data shows how widely outcomes spread within each group.
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. If you are considering a sale of a software, SaaS or IT services business in the next few years, we are happy to share which of these buyers, and which of the hundreds of smaller ones in our database, have been active in your specific niche. Get in touch with Aventis Advisors.
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 |
Read the ranking the way a buyer would read your company. If you run vertical market software with sticky customers and a few million in revenue, the serial consolidators are the most likely knock on your door: Constellation, Valsoft and Banyan alone announced 213 acquisitions in 2023-2025, and businesses with your profile are their core diet. Expect a fast, standardized process, a permanent home for the team, and a disciplined price. If your product is business software with strong cloud metrics in a specific region, the regional champions are the natural fit: 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 that is where the premium outcomes live. IBM, Cisco and ServiceNow have kept buying through the AI cycle, with 23, 16 and 13 acquisitions in 2023-2025 respectively, and a single deal like Moveworks or Armis carries more value than a consolidator’s entire year of buying. The trade-off is a slower, more crowded process and an outcome that depends on a strategic roadmap you cannot see from the outside.
Most software companies fit more than one of these boxes, and that is precisely the point of 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. The same analysis runs at the niche level, where the relevant buyer universe becomes much narrower than any national ranking suggests.
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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.
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