Your Tech Story

Multinational Conglomerate

Constellation Software

Constellation Software – A Multinational Conglomerate That Acquires And Builds Software Companies.

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By

Constellation Software is a Canadian-based diversified software company. The headquarters of the company is based in Toronto, Ontario. In 1996, a former venture capitalist, Mark Leonard founded Constellation Software Inc. The main idea of the company is to buy exceptional and good businesses in their respective verticals based on a few criteria. After the acquisition, CSI studies the history of the company to help it grow and become the number one player in the market. It helps the good businesses become exceptional and the exceptional businesses have consistent growth and profitability.

About Constellation Software

Founded in 1996, CSI is a public traded company and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company went public in 2006 and it is also a constituent of the S&P/TSX 60. Currently, CSI has 6 operating segments and the company server globally with 16,000 employees. The annual revenue of the company is over $3 billion. CSI acquires companies in various fields ranging from software businesses to construction companies.

Acquisition Criteria of CSI

The companies that are selling their business units or the entire company to CSI can be due to various reasons. Maybe the companies find a new interest in a different sector or reasons of health, estate planning, etc. But, the main idea of CSI is to hold the status of an exceptional company and run it following its past. And, in case of a good company that CSI acquires it tries to understand the factors which have hindered it from becoming an exceptional company.

Constellation Software
Image source: globenewswire.com

Business Strategy

The main target of the company is to acquire as many good and exceptional companies as possible and hold them back for a long time. CSI was founded in 1996 and since then it has acquired around 500 companies. CSI focuses on a lot of sectors for acquiring the top market players from each sector. It has its main interest in vertical market software companies that create industry-focused software. Depending on the history of the company, past growth, profitability, and acquisitions, CSI takes a decision. It also buys companies that haven’t made significant growth but show huge potential.

The business strategy of CSI has proved to be very impactful for the growth of the company. The value of its stocks has increased to 30 folds since it filed IPO. Most of the acquisitions of CSI are small, i.e., ranging below $5 million. One of the biggest acquisitions in the history of CSI was acquiring Acceo Solutions in January 2018. The deal was closed at $250 million. In recent years, CSI experiences very tough competition in acquiring companies. The main competitors in the market are private equity and hedge funds. CSI generates most of its revenue from the US (52%) followed by Europe and Canada.

Operations Of Constellation Software

There are six operating segments of CSI. The first segment is Volaris Group which focuses on buying software businesses in various sectors (finance, education, agriculture, etc). The second is Harris Computer Systems which mainly focuses on serving the public sectors and it includes utilities, education, and healthcare. The third one is for the hospitality and construction sector and it is called Jonas Software. Under this segment, CSI has 70 companies. The fourth segment is Vela Software which focuses on the industrial sector and especially on oil and gas manufacturing companies. Perseus Operating Group is the fifth segment and it focuses on pulp and paper business and real estate. Last but not least is the Total Specific Solutions which focuses on the UK and Europe-based software companies.

About Mark Leonard – Constellation Software

Mark Leonard is a billionaire and an entrepreneur who started CSI in 1995. He is currently President and Chairman of the Board in CSI. Mark went to the University of Guelph and the University of Western Ontario. Before becoming a venture capitalist, Mark worked as a bounder, mason, wind energy researcher, and some other jobs.

Danaher Corporation

Danaher Corporation – A Fortune 500 Company That Develops Products For The Medical And Industrial Sector.

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By

Danaher Corporation is a multinational conglomerate based in America. The headquarters of the company is in Washington, D.C. This year, Danaher ranked 130th on the Fortune 500 list. Steven M. Rales and Mitchell Rales founded the company in 1969 when it was called DMG. Danaher is one of the largest companies in North America and it adopted the principles of “Kaizen”, a Japanese philosophy to continuously improve and eliminate waste. Danaher has three platforms, namely, Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environment & Applied Sciences.

The Founding Story Of Danaher Corporation

In 1969, Steven Rales and Mitchell Rales organized the company as a Massachusetts real estate investment firm. They established the company under the name DMG which was changed to Diversified Mortgage Investors Inc in 1978. In 1984, the name of the company was again changed to Danaher Corporation and it was reincorporated under the Delaware General Corporation Law. The name Danaher was given by the Rales when they went on a fishing trip to Danaher, a tributary in Western Montana.

In 1986, Danaher merged with multiple companies when it bought Chicago Pneumatic. The Jacobs Manufacturing Co and Matco Tools Corp were under the acquisition of Chicago Pneumatic when Danaher bought the company. But, after a year, Danaher sold off CP and retained Matco and Jacobs at the same time. In the 1990s other divisions of Danaher were established. After Danaher Corporation was established in 1984, it acquired 12 companies to enter the manufacturing market within two years. In the Instrumentation Unit of Danaher, the company added Qualitrol and Gilbarco Veeder-Root. The company also acquired Kollmorgen, a company based in Virginia.

Danaher Corporation
Image source: rodpub.com

Early Growth And Expansion

The acquisition spree of Danaher kept continuing as it acquired red Easco Hand Tools in 1990. Next year, Danaher landed a big contract for Sears and it became the main supplier for hand tools. After it landed this contract, Danaher acquired multiple tools companies like Armstrong and Allen. It also expanded its presence in the chemical industry after acquiring Hach company in 1999 followed by a German company called Lange.

In 2005, Danaher announced that it will acquire Leica Microsystems which was known for manufacturing a broad range of products for microscopic imaging, measurement, and analysis. Eventually, Danaher entered the market of life science and started providing management systems in the healthcare sector. In 2007, the company acquired the Australian Pathology Instrument and Engineering company called Vision Systems Limited. The same year it acquired Tektronix Inc which is the company’s largest acquisition till today. The deal was closed for $1.1 billion. In 2009, Danaher acquired the analytics technology business unit of the Canadian-based company, MDS Inc.

Present Days

In the last decade, Danaher acquired Beckman Coulter followed by Navman Wireless in the next year. During this time, the company also sold its joint venture with Cooper Industries to Bain Capital for $1.6 billion. Danaher carried out another big acquisition in 2013 as it acquired Nobel Biocare for $2.2 billion. In 2014, Danaher and NetScout agreed to combine the communication unit of the former company with NetScout Systems. Many other companies were also acquired in the past years which includes Pall for $13.8 billion, Phenomenex for $700 million, Integrated DNA Technologies for an undisclosed amount, and many more.

In 2018, Danaher decided to spin off its dental segment and make it an independent company. Next year, it sold numerous business units to Sartorius AG for $750 million. The same year, Danaher appeared on the Forbes list for becoming one of the best employers for diversity. Last year, Tom Joyce retired as the CEO of the company and he was replaced by Rainer Blair.

Rainer M. Blair – CEO

Rainer Blair is the President and CEO of the company. He joined the Danaher Corporation in 2010 and held various leadership roles in the company. He has 30-years of industrial experience. Before joining Danaher, he was the CEO and President of MAPEI Americas, and before that he spent fifteen years with BASF Group.

Infor

Infor – A Private Software Company To Make Over Forty Acquisitions Until Now.

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By

Based in New York City, United States, Infor is one of the largest multinational software conglomerates in the nation. It is an enterprise software company that develops business applications that are further delivered via cloud computing. Infor was originally founded in 2002 as Agilsys. Some of the main business areas in the focus of the company are developing software for financial systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP). supply chain, and customer relationship management.

Since Infor delivers its application through cloud computing, the company uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) and many open-source platforms. Infor has made several acquisitions to date and many of them involved closing deals in billions. The company has expanded to 300 countries and territories where it has more than 90,000 corporate customers. Some of the clients include Ferrari, EBSCO, Legacy Health, Heineken, etc. Currently, Kevin Samuelson is the CEO of the company.

Foundation of Infor

In June 2002, Infor was launched as Agilsys in Malvern, Pennsylvania. In the beginning, it had around 1,300 customers for whom it developed enterprise software. The foundation of the company is based on a series of acquisitions which was led by Summit Partners and Golden Gate Capital. From the very beginning, Agilsys started acquiring multiple companies which today had resulted in a big organization. Starting in 2002, the company acquired Brain AG and Future Three. Soon, Agilsys also moved from Pennsylvania to Atlanta.

Agilsys acquired many companies in 2004 which includes a German-based company called Infor Business Solutions, Daly commerce, Lily Software Associates, and VISUAL ERP. The same year, Agilsys changed its name to Infor Global Solutions. In 2005, Infor acquired a company called MAPICS for $347 million. Next year, it acquired an Ontario-based company called GEAC ARP for $1 billion. In 2006, Infor was planning to buy SSA global but the deal was halted due to a lawsuit filed by some shareholders. Later, Infor merged with the company after a negotiation with the shareholders.

Started with only 1,300 customers, Company had increased the figure by thirteen times in 2006. In 2009, Infor acquired a line of entertainment and hotel business, SoftBrands which in turn acquired MAI Systems Corporation and The LodgingTouch Property Management System. Till 2009, the company acquired many companies in various business sectors, and now it was time for a new management team.

Infor
Image source: wikimedia.org

New Management Team

In 2010, the board of directors of Infor decided to form new management for the company. They brought in senior executives from Oracle Corporation. Charles Philips became the new CEO, Pam Murphy the new COO, Duncan Angove, and Stephen Scholl became co-presidents. As the new CEO of the company, Charles put out new strategies to gain the market share on Oracle and SAP. The company decided to make user-friendly applications and rewriting applications into new code. IN 2011, the company again made a big acquisition by buying Lawson Software for $2 billion. Next year, the company again relocated its headquarters to New York City.

Recent Acquisitions

After the formation of a new management team and relocating to New York City, Infor acquired more prominent companies. After acquiring Lawson Software, Company bought Approva and Enxsuite in the same year. It also bought SM-Plus, a company that provides service management tools. In 2012, it acquired EasyRMS, Group Laurier, and Orbis Global. In 2013, Infor acquired a US-based learning management software called CERTPOINT Systems Inc and next year acquired a talent management platform, PeopleAnswers.

Infor has acquired companies in consulting sectors, healthcare management, risk management, etc. In 2020, it acquired Intelligent Insites, a company that provides location-based healthcare services. Earlier last year, Koch Equity Developement LLC purchased full equity in Infor and the company is currently valued at $11 billion.

Kevin Samuelson – CEO of Infor

Kevin Samuelson became the CEO of Infor in 2019. He is attached to the company from the very beginning when it was founded as Agilsys. Kevin left the company in 2013 and went to work for big SaaS companies. He again rejoined the company in 2016 and served as the Chief Financial Officer until 2019. Kevin completed his education at the University of California at Berkeley.

Micro Focus

Micro Focus – Story Of The First Software Company To Win Queen’s Award.

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By

Micro Focus International plc is a British multinational conglomerate that is based in the IT sector. The company was founded in 1976 and its headquarters is based in Newbury, Berkshire, England. As the main product of the company, Micro Focus provides enterprise application integration, management software, and IT consultancy. It is a public limited company listed on the London Stock Exchange and it is also an element of the FTSE 250 Index.

The company currently generates $3 billion in revenue annually. Micro Focus also claims to be the largest provider of enterprise software on a global scale with 40,000 worldwide customers. Micro Focus has 12,000 employees who work across 48 different countries. A majority of the Fortune 100 companies are customers of Micro Focus.

History of Micro Focus

In 1976, Micro Focus was established in England. The product of the Company that became a big hit in the software industry was CIS COBOL. It was a standard-compliant COBOL that was developed for its implementation in microcomputers. On the basis of developing this software product, Micro Focus became the first company to win the Queen’s Award for the industry. For a new company like Micro Focus, it was quite prestigious and helped acquire more investors and customers.

Micro Focus
Image source: www.irishtimes.com

Expansion and Acquisitions

The company eventually started acquired a lot of businesses to expand in the various domains of the IT sector. In 1998, Micro Focus acquired an application enablement business called Intersolv Inc for $534 million. After the acquisition, Company started a new business with Intersolv and renamed the company Merant. After the first acquisition, the company acquired XDB Systems in the same year. Acquiring this company gave Micro Focus access to XDB Enterprise Server RDBMS (Relational Database Management System). After two years, the merged business with Intersolv was split and again the company took its original name. The demerger of the Company was backed by Golden Gate Capital Partners.

In 2005, Company filed its first IPO and got listed on the London Stock Exchange. MicroFocus, in 2007, acquired the ACUCOBOL-GT product line of the company Acucorp Inc. It is a San Diego-based company that is known for developing modern COBOL development tools using advanced tech for the business growth of COBOL applications. In 2008, Company acquired an Israeli-based public company called NetManage for $73.3 million. It was a software company developed by an Israeli engineer. The growth curve of MicroFocus was moving upwards as it kept on acquiring more and more companies which gave it exposure to a larger customer base.

In 2008, Company acquired Liant Software Corporation for its RM/COBOL and PL/I product lines. It was a Texas-based company that owned assets of one of the main competitors of MicroFocus. In 2009, the company acquired two new businesses. First, it acquired the company that developed application lifecycle management tools, Borland followed by a business unit of another company. The second company it acquired was the Quality Solutions and TestPartner of Compuware.

Present-Day

In December 2013, the company acquired few product lines of Progress Software with include Orbix, Orbacus, and Artix. This line of software was originally developed by IONA Technologies and it had great demand in the market. In 2014, Company showed an interest in buying The Attachmate Group for $1.2 billion in shares. This would give Micro Focus access to a certain number of specific product lines. On the other hand, the owner of The Attachment Group which consisted of several investment partners would hold a 40 percent stake in Company after the deal was closed. The company acquired a few more enterprises after the deal which included Gwava Inc, ATAR Labs, Serena Software, etc.

Stephen Murdoch – CEO of Micro Focus

Stephen Murdoch joined Micro Focus in 2012 as the General Manager of the Product Group. Later, he became the Chief Marketing Officer and became the CEO of the company in 2018. Before joining Company, Stephen has working experience in Dell and also 17 years of experience at IBM.

Bosch

Bosch – From A Precision Workshop to One of the Largest Conglomerate in the World

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By

When we talk about the success stories, Bosch’s success story is the greatest of them all. Like many other big companies, Bosch started its journey from a house’s backyard, after multiple ups and downs, and about 130 years later, the company is a multinational and is known to all. Bosch is a conglomerate, having its specialty in four major areas, i.e., mobility (including hardware and software), consumer goods (i.e., household appliances and power tools), industrial technology (drive and control), and energy and building technology.

About the Company

Robert Bosch GmbH is a conglomerate founded by Robert Bosch on 15 November 1886 as a precision mechanics and electrical engineering workshop. The company has its headquarters based in Gerlingen, Germany, and offers its services globally. It is a private company, Robert Bosch Stiftung having 92% of its shares under their name. BSH Hausgeräte, ETAS, and Bosch Rexroth are its major subsidiaries, and over 400,000 people are working for the company globally.
According to the 2019 records, Bosch made revenues worth €77.721 billion and holds total assets worth €89.030 billion. The company specializes in products manufacturing and supply, including Automotive parts, power tools, security systems, home appliances, engineering, electronics, cloud computing, IoT.

Bosch
Image source: www.deccanherald.com

Founding of Bosch

The history of Bosch dates back to 134 years ago when on 15 November 1886, Robert Bosch started to make truly reliable ignition gas engines in the backyard of a mechanical and electrical workshop. The first product of the company was a low voltage magneto for gas engines, and in just a few years, Company became the only supplier of a truly reliable ignition within the industry. In 1902, the company launched the first high-voltage magneto ignition system with a spark plug, a revolutionary product that helped in the growth of the company.
In 1901, Bosch opened its first factory in Stuttgart, and in the next ten years, moved to a bigger plant in Feuerbach. In the coming few years, the company also started to make headlights, windshields, wipers, injection pumps for diesel, power drills, car radios, etc., for automobiles. By 1917, it was a corporation.
The expansion for the company started when it acquired the gas appliances production from Junkers & Co., followed by the founding of Dreilinden Maschinenbau GmbH in Kleinmachnow near Berlin and Elektro- und Feinmechanische Industrie GmbH in Hildesheim. The company also had a great role to play in the second World War, as it produced accessories for German Luftwaffe aircraft, equipment of tanks, tractors, and trucks of the Wehrmacht, starter elements for tanks, etc. During the same time, the company had grown to about 210 plants in 100 different locations.
The end of the Second World War was the new beginning for Bosch. It partnered with a Japanese company named Denso and in 1968. , founded a new development center in Schwieberdingen. In 1987, Bosch acquired Telenorma, which was renamed Bosch Telecom GmbH. The company has many inventions under its credits, including the traction control system (1986), the xenon light for cars (1991), and the electronic stability control (1995), etc.
The company also expanded its operations into other fields. The company invested in security products and systems like CCTV, public address system, etc., and acquired Philips CSI in 2002. The company also acquired companies like Telex Communications (2006), Electro-Voice (2006), Mannesmann Rexroth AG (2001), and ZF Lenksysteme (2015).

The Company Today

Bosch is one of the largest conglomerates and operates through its about 440 subsidiaries in around 60 countries. The company specializes in manufacturing, engineering, and sales. Other than that, the company is also into healthcare and medical technology (Bosch Healthcare Solutions), software technology (Bosch Software Innovations), venture capital (Grow Platform GmbH and Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH), etc.
Other than its 4000,000, the company has employed about 64,500 research associates in its research and development centers. In May 2019, the company announced that it will be “fully carbon-neutral” by 2020, and for that, the company has initiated multiple clean electricity and ambitious carbon offset programs.

The Founder

Robert Bosch the founder of Robert Bosch GmbH was born on 23 September 1861 in Albeck, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Confederation. Bosch went to the Realschule (secondary-technical school) in Ulm in 1969 and then started working as a precision mechanic apprentice. In the first seven years of his career, he worked for multiple companies in Germany, the US, and the UK. During the same time, he also worked for Thomas Edison in New York. After gaining enough experience he then started his own workshop on 15 November 1886, which later became today’s Bosch.
Under Bosch’s leadership, the company made multiple inventions and started to operate out of Germany as well. He is also credited to introduce the eight-hour workday, He was also among the ones who supported the resistance against Adolf Hitler and employed about 20,000 forced laborers (prisoners of war) from the war. Bosch is one of the greatest personalities of Germany and was awarded the “Pionier der Arbeit” (Pioneer of Labor). Robert Bosch died on 12 March 1942.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo – A Multinational Financial Conglomerate With Assets Worth $1.9 Trillion.

Leave a Comment / Story, Tech Story / By

William Fargo and Henry Wells co-founded Wells Fargo & Co, in 1852. Today, Wells Fargo & Company is one of the biggest financial service companies in the entire world. The corporate headquarters of the company is based in San Francisco, California and the operational headquarters is based in Manhattan. Last year, the company ranked 30 among the Fortune 500 companies in terms of total revenue. Wells Fargo Bank, one of the subsidiaries of the company also ranks fourth among US banks in terms of total assets. The multinational company, we know today as Company was formed by the merger of the original company and Norwest Corporation back in 1998.

About the Company

From the 19th century till today, Company has created a highly reputed fame for itself. In 2014, the company was named the most valuable bank in the world and the next year it became the world’s largest bank by market capitalization. The company shares the title of “Big Four Banks” of the US along with Citigroup, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase. The company currently has around 70 million customers spread across 35 nations globally. There are more than 8,000 branches of the company and approximately 268,000 employees as of 2020. The company currently has four subsidiaries, namely, Wells Fargo Advisors, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Wells Fargo Rail, and Wells Fargo Securities. The main services provided by the company are community banking, consumer lending, student loan, equipment lending, asset management, securities, etc.

Wells Fargo
Image source: wikimedia.org

History of Wells Fargo

Henry Wells and William Fargo are the two founders of the company. Before they founded Company, they established the famous multinational company, American Express. So, both of them were experienced entrepreneurs which helped them become visionaries. The company was founded back in the 1800s to provide express and banking services in the state of California. Eventually, other subsidiaries of the company were established with an increase in the number of services.

In 1866, a major consolidation took place uniting Holladay and Overland Mail with Company. The banking and express operations of the company were separated from the main division as it merged with Nevada National Bank to form Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank in 1905. After this merger, the entity again merged with Union Trust Company in 1923 and it became Wells Fargo Bank. This is how the company gradually expanded its territory and established its prime subsidiaries.

Major Events and Acquisitions

After multiple mergers and forming new subsidiaries, Company started acquiring a series of companies in the 1980s. In 1986, the company acquired Crocker National Corporation, a US bank from Midland Bank followed by Bank of America which is a personal trust business. The company closed a giant deal in 1991 when it acquired 130 California branches from Great American Bank. In 1995, the company started offering internet banking and it became the first-ever big US financial company to provide this service. The company closed a deal for $11.6 billion when it acquired First Interstate Bancorp in 1996 which was the US’s eighth-largest banking company back then. In 1998, Norwest and Wells Fargo merged but the former decided to continue the business under the name.

After the merger, the company’s first acquisition was National Bank of Alaska followed by First Security Corporation, both in 2000. Some of the other companies were acquired by H.D. Vest Financial Services, Placer Sierra Bank, the construction unit of CIT, Century Bancshares of Texas, and many more. In 2008, Company decided to buy Wachovia for $14.8 billion. At the same time, Citigroup also offered to buy the same and threatened Company legally. But, the shareholders approved the deal with Wells Fargo as the company offered seven times more than Citigroup. The deal was closed in the same year. The company recently made Charles Scharf its new CEO in 2019.

The shareholders approved the deal with Wells Fargo as the company offered seven times more than Citigroup. The deal was closed in the same year. The company recently made Charles Scharf its new CEO in 2019.

Founder

William Fargo has a major contribution towards building the modern financial firms of America. William along with his business partner Henry Wells founded American Express Company and Wells Fargo. He started his career professionally when he got a job as a clerk in the forwarding house of Dunford & Co. In 1850, the American Express Company was founded by merging three companies and William was made its Secretary while Henry its President.