October 24, 2014

Progress Software intends to acquire Telerik for $263 million

Progress Software, a provider of application development tools, announced plans to acquire Telerik for $262.5 million on Wednesday. Telerik, a Bulgarian app development software company that specializes in user interface components, will strengthen Progress Software's ability to offer "exceptional user experiences," according to an official press release published Wednesday.

The release expands upon how Telerik will enhance Progress's offerings:

"The combination of Progress and Telerik will create a comprehensive cloud and on-premise platform offering that enables developers to rapidly create beautiful applications driven by data for any device or cloud. The combined offering will enable developers to create highly personalized user experiences, powerful applications and connections to multiple data sources without being limited by cloud or device."

As a result of acquiring Telerik, Progress will add to its client base roughly 1.4 million app developers, and the Telerik talent acqui-hired by Progress will presumably work to update what Forbes contributor Ben Kepes calls an "old-school" approach to application development. Progress, after all, was founded roughly 30 years ago. The acquisition should prove to be a profitable one for Progress, as Telerik brought in about $60 million in revenue last year and has an annual growth rate of 20 percent, whereas Progress hasn't seen much growth in recent years.

This isn't the only acquisition Progress has initiated in order to bring its portfolio into the future. Last year, it acquired Rollbase, a platform that can be used for developing business applications with little-to-no coding, and Modulus, a Node.js hosting platform for app developers.

Progress Software's three recent technology acquisitions underscore the importance of staying relevant in the constantly-evolving tech industry. If you are looking to boost your company's revenue and diversify its portfolio by acquiring a successful startup, contact an M&A advisor to discuss your options.