Veeam to be acquired for massive US$5 billion

Leading software investor Insight Partners has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Veeam Software, the backup and cloud data management solutions vendor, for approximately US$5 billion.

Under the ownership of Insight Partners, Veeam will become a U.S. company, with a U.S.-based leadership team, while continuing its global expansion from offices in 30 countries and with customers in over 160 countries.

The acquisition, which is expected to close during the first quarter of 2020, will provide a base from which Veeam can move into hybrid cloud and expand into new markets.

As part of the acquisition, William H. Largent has been promoted to the chief executive officer role from operations executive vice president, and Danny Allan has been promoted to chief technology officer.

Following an investment from Insight Partners at the beginning of 2019, Veeam worked alongside Insight Partners' business strategy and ScaleUp division, Insight Onsite, to expand its software-defined Veeam Cloud Data Management Platform.

The company launched a number of new innovations over the last year, including Veeam Backup for Amazon Web Services (AWS), Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365 v4, Veeam Universal License (VUL) and announcing Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure.

"Veeam has enjoyed rapid global growth over the last decade and we see tremendous opportunity for future growth, particularly in the U.S. market. With the acquisition, we are excited that our current U.S. workforce of more than 1,200 will be expanded and strengthened to acquire and support more customers," says Largent.

"Veeam has one of the highest calibre global workforces of any technology company, and we believe this acquisition will allow us to scale our team and technology at an unrivalled pace.

During the last decade, Veeam has collected more than 170 industry awards, been named as a leader in three consecutive backup and data recovery Magic Quadrants by Gartner, held a consistent leadership position in the Forrester Wave, and been named as one of Forbes' Cloud 100 companies for four straight years.

According to the latest IDC Software Tracker, Veeam is the #1 market-share leader in EMEA and the #4 worldwide, after DellEMC, Veritas and IBM.

Following the acquisition, Co-Founders Andrei Baronov and Ratmir Timashev will step down from the Board of Directors and Insight Partners Managing Directors Ryan Hinkle and Ross Devor will each serve on the Board once the acquisition has been completed.

Co-investor Nick Ayers also joins Insight Partners managing director Mike Triplett and Veeam CEO William H. Largent on the Board.

Goldman Sachs - Co., J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley served as financial advisors, and Willkie Farr - Gallagher LLP served as legal counsel, to Insight Partners. Ropes - Gray LLP served as legal counsel to Veeam. Financing commitments for the transaction provided by affiliates of J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs - Co., Morgan Stanley, Ares Management, Bank of America, Golub Capital and Antares Capital.