Visma's M&A trajectory continues to lay the foundation for growth

Visma, a software and cloud-related provider serving customers across 16 European countries and Latin America, saw its 2022 revenues jump by 19% to EUR 2.1 billion. It owes its success to its strategic focus on mission-critical SaaS and related cloud services, which comprised 85% of its total revenue (81% in 2021).

Last year, the vendor renewed its SaaS ambitions after divesting its IT consulting and Cloud Infrastructure Services (CIS) businesses Visma Exso AS, Visma EssCom AB and 50.1% of Value Retail Consulting AS to Aars, owner of InfoCare. Visma will utilize the proceeds to reinvest in new growth opportunities.

Inorganic growth is a big part of Visma’s expansion strategy, with over 42 acquisitions in eight countries and valued at EUR 1.1 billion. Latest acquisitions include Identum, a SaaS-based IAM solutions provider based in Norway, and Moloni, a cloud software solutions provider for invoicing and point of sale (POS) with offices in Spain and Portugal.

Visma has a strong presence in Northern Europe and is expanding its influence in Southern Europe. In addition to acquiring Moloni in the Iberian region, it launched its ninth competence center, “Visma Tech Portugal,” in Porto. This innovation hub will focus on core topics, including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and product design. Within these hubs, Visma leverages its digital and technological expertise to offer its customers seamless data synchronization across business functions and connect applications through APIs to create the necessary data flows and insights.

Continuous innovation is key for the company and its 1.4 million customers (according to the company, 22 million e-invoices and 11 million payslips flow through its products). Therefore, Visma invests approximately 21% (EUR 424 million in 2022) of its group’s revenue in product development.

Over the next few years, Visma will continue to reshape its business activities, emphasizing SaaS and standardized cloud products by creating a software powerhouse through M&A in France, Germany, and Portugal. Its focus falls upon fast-growing cloud companies that are at an early growth stage in their lifecycle and have a deep understanding of local needs in the accounting and payroll space.