Salesforce in talks to buy Israeli co Clicksoftware for $1.5b

Salesforce Photo: Reuters
Salesforce Photo: Reuters

US private equity fund Francisco Partners bought the Petah Tikva-based logistical management systems company for $438 million in 2015.

US cloud based software giant Salesforce is in talks to buy Israeli company Clicksoftware, which develops  cloud based field service management software, for close to $1.5 billion. Clicksoftware is currently owned by US private equity fund Francisco Partners.

Based in Petah Tikva, Clicksoftware has 200 employees in Israel and develops logistical management systems for customer service and technical support, sending out technicians and tracking the results. The company was founded more than 20 years ago by Moshe Benbassat, who has since left the company. Since last year, Clicksoftware's CEO has been Mark Cattini. The company is privately owned and therefore does not report financial results but it did report in 2016 that annual revenue was $144 million.

Francisco Partners acquired Clicksoftware in 2015 for $438 million and delisted it from Nasdaq. The private equity fund set out to enhance the value of the company and sell it within a few years.

Based in San Francisco, Francisco Partners owns other Israeli companies NSO, SintecMedia and Dmatek and formerly owned Ex Libris.

If there is a deal, it would be the second major Israeli acquisition by Salesforce in less than a year. Last year Salesforce bought cloud-based artificial intelligence marketing platform Datorama for $850 million for Datorama.  

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 16, 2019

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2019

Salesforce Photo: Reuters
Salesforce Photo: Reuters
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