Notable B2B SaaS Acquisitions in 2021

B2B SaaS acquisitions are exciting, and the milestone acts as a catalyst for change in any business.

For some companies, an acquisition is a way to grow an existing business and maybe even add a SaaS offering. After all, there’s a reason making an acquisition shows momentum in the market. (Publicizing the deal also provides a chance to showcase newly-expanded capabilities and gets you in front of new potential investors, segments and customers. You can find more on that in our “Guide to Announcing the Acquisition of Another Company” ebook.)

Other SaaS and B2B tech companies look to acquisition as a means of exiting. For example, cloud migration company Velostrata came to BLASTmedia looking to differentiate offerings by positioning the company as a key migration and mobility partner for multiple cloud platforms — including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Partner (GCP) and Microsoft Azure. In doing so, the brand also sought to increase awareness not only among potential customers and partners but also investors. The company was snapped up by Google to further the search giant’s Google Cloud Platform (GCP) less than six months into our engagement. 

As a PR agency working with B2B SaaS brands, we’ve seen both ends of the acquisition story. The desired outcomes (and, as a result, PR tactics) look different each time, but one aspect remains consistent: PR’s ability to reach the desired audience.

So, what were the SaaS acquisition stories making news this year? Here’s a look at over 50 B2B SaaS companies that were acquired during the first half of 2021: 

SaaS Companies Acquired in 2021

  1. A Cloud Guru to Pluralsight
  2. Advicent Solutions acquired by InvestCloud
  3. Agari acquired by HelpSystems
  4. Altus Technology acquired by Momentum Telecom
  5. Ascent Business Technology Inc acquired by TraqIQ
  6. Bazaarvoice acquired by Thomas H. Lee Partners
  7. Blue Yonder acquired by Panasonic
  8. Bold360 acquired by Genesys
  9. Boomi acquired by Francisco Partners
  10. Boomi acquired by TPG
  11. Cedato acquired by EX.CO
  12. Changepoint acquired by Planview
  13. Chargeback acquired by Sift
  14. Chorus.ai acquired by ZoomInfo
  15. Clarizen acquired by Planview
  16. Clause acquired by Docusign
  17. Cloudvirga acquired by Stewart
  18. CoConstruct acquired by Buildertrend
  19. ContractRoom acquired by Mitratech
  20. DialogTech acquired by Invoca
  21. Divvy acquired by Bill.com
  22. Docsend acquired by Dropbox
  23. Ekata acquired by Mastercard
  24. Exponea (acquired by Bloomreach) acquired by Bloomreach
  25. Gigster acquired by Ionic Partners
  26. Greenhouse Software acquired by TPG
  27. JAGGAER acquired by PwC France
  28. Kenna Security acquired by Cisco
  29. Kount acquired by Equifax
  30. Lingotek acquired by Straker Translations
  31. MindTouch acquired by NICE Systems
  32. Mobile Solutions acquired by Brightfin
  33. Mya Systems acquired by StepStone
  34. Nuxeo acquired by Hyland Software
  35. PactSafe acquired by Ironclad
  36. Qualtrics acquired by Silver Lake
  37. QuanticMind acquired by Centro
  38. Reflektive acquired by Peoplefluent
  39. Reward Gateway acquired by ABRY Partners
  40. RSG Media acquired by Naviga
  41. Scalyr acquired by SentinelOne
  42. Second Street acquired by Upland Software
  43. ShowingTime acquired by Zillow Group
  44. Sparkcentral acquired by Hootsuite
  45. Sqreen acquired by Datadog
  46. SupplyFrame acquired by Siemens
  47. SyncHR acquired by PrimePay
  48. Talentcube acquired by Phenom
  49. Targetprocess acquired by Apptio
  50. Terafina acquired by NCR
  51. The Marlin Company acquired by Appspace, Inc.
  52. thinktank.net acquired by Accenture
  53. TradingScreen acquired by Francisco Partners
  54. Utilant acquired by Majesco
  55. Wrike acquired by Citrix Systems
  56. Zaius acquired by Optimizely
  57. Zipwhip acquired by Twilio

B2B SaaS Acquisitions Scoring Media Coverage

Despite acquisitions being a great way for SaaS companies to showcase momentum, it can be challenging to stand out from the noise.  

As with other announcements, pairing data and thought leadership with an acquisition announcement can help SaaS companies generate more media interest. 

Here’s a look at a few companies that scored noteworthy headlines and top-tier media coverage around acquisitions of SaaS brands:

  1. Talentcube to Phenom – In February, Phenom made its third acquisition in six months, acquiring Talentcube, a holistic video recruiting platform. Phenom also scooped up My Ally — a B2B SaaS company focused on implementing AI to optimize recruiting — and HR service provider Endouble in 2020. In addition to securing trade coverage around the announcement, Phenom’s videoconferencing tool was mentioned in a Wall Street Journal article about the SaaS company and its customer Southwest Airlines several months later.
  2. DocSend to Dropbox – In March, Dropbox acquired DocSend for $165 million. According to reporting by TechCrunch, acquiring DocSend — which allows customers to share and track documents using a secure link — gives Dropbox’s platform an end-to-end, secure document-sharing workflow.
  3. PactSafe to Ironclad Ironclad, the #1 contract lifecycle management (CLM) platform for innovative companies, acquired PactSafe, the leading clickwrap transaction platform (CTP), to create a new standard for business contracting, to include digital acceptance of online transactions. The acquisition was Ironclad’s first, and the CEO’s comments on how the move related to consolidation in legal tech helped land a feature in Insider.
  4. Chorus.ai to ZoomInfo – In the most recent acquisition on our list, ZoomInfo acquired Conversation Intelligence leader Chorus.ai in July for $575M. TechCrunch covered the announcement in a piece titled, “ZoomInfo drops $575M on Chorus.ai as AI shakes up the sales market.” The article goes beyond only reporting the news, including a quote from ZoomInfo’s CEO and speculating on future financial exits in the Conversation Intelligence space.

Who else is making moves in 2021? Have a notable B2B SaaS acquisition you’d like to see added to this list? Tweet us and let us know. 

Disclosure: This list includes current and former BLASTmedia clients.

BLASTmedia

About The Author

BLASTmedia

Established in 2005, BLASTmedia is the only PR agency in the US dedicated to B2B SaaS, representing companies from growth-stage to publicly traded. BLASTmedia understands the unique challenges associated with scaling a SaaS business and uses media coverage and thought leadership campaigns to impact four primary pillars: investors, employees, partners, and customers.

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