Thoma Bravo wraps up purchase of Mercell

Thoma Bravo intends to grow Mercell through product development and strategic acquisitions.

  • The offer price for Mercell was NKr 6.30 per share
  • Mercell’s SaaS network is ‘extremely valuable’, said Thoma Bravo
  • Mercell is a Norwegian e-tendering software provider

Thoma Bravo on Tuesday completed the purchase of Mercell, an Oslo-based provider of e-tendering and procurement systems.

Mercell provides tendering software for public buyers and tender notification software for public sector suppliers. The deal was carried out via a voluntary cash offer from Spring Bidco, a Thoma Bravo portfolio company, for all shares in Mercell at an offer price of NKr6.30 ($0.65; €0.64) per share.

“Mercell’s SaaS network of buyers and suppliers for public tendering is extremely valuable and, as a private company alongside Thoma Bravo, Mercell is well positioned to enhance its product offering and global growth,” said George Jaber, a senior vice president at Thoma Bravo. “Our team is excited to partner with Mercell to help the company achieve its full potential and set Mercell up for sustained long-term growth.”

“The European SaaS market is experiencing extraordinary growth and our partnership with Mercell allows us to expand our presence in this important global market,” added AJ Rohde, a senior partner at Thoma Bravo. “Thoma Bravo’s partnership-driven approach will benefit Mercell greatly through investments in product development and strategic acquisitions.”

Chicago-headquartered Thoma Bravo is a private equity firm that looks to invest in software and technology companies. It has completed nearly 400 transactions and had assets under management of $114 billion as of March 31.

“I am thrilled to partner with Thoma Bravo and leverage their deep operational and investment expertise to achieve our global growth goals,” said Terje Wibe, CEO of Mercell. “I am proud of the entire Mercell team for helping us reach this milestone, and I look forward to further success as we build upon our market leadership position and continue to deliver customers best-in-class e-tendering and procurement systems.”

The deal was first announced 25 May.