Bullhorn Acquires Talent Rover and Jobscience

Bullhorn
Talent Rover and Jobscience

Bullhorn Acquires Talent Rover and Jobscience

Deal Financials

Transaction Value ($m):
Undisclosed

Transaction Overview

  • On March 13, 2018, staffing software provider Bullhorn announced that it has acquired two Force.com-native staffing and recruiting software platforms, Talent Rover and Jobscience.
  • These transactions follow Bullhorn’s acquisition of Force.com-native Connexys BV, a Dutch applicant tracking software provider, in September 2017.

A Case Study in Ecosystem-Driven Strategy

  • Before the Salesforce platform had generated multiple billion-dollar success stories, heavy reliance on it was considered risky. As outlined in TBP’s recent M&A Trends in the Salesforce Ecosystem report, Force.com-native companies like Veeva, Apttus, FinancialForce, and ServiceMax have since generated billion-dollar Enterprise Values and demonstrated the potential of the platform.
  • However, it is becoming clearer that in a poly-cloud environment, SaaS companies need to also have their own stacks in addition to their applications built on top of PaaS offerings from Salesforce.com, SAP, Oracle, or ServiceNow.
  • By acquiring Force.com-native companies, Bullhorn is playing out the poly-cloud strategy, having its independent technology stack while simultaneously maintaining other platforms on top of the Force.com PaaS offering.
  • Separately, the private equity firm backing Bullhorn, Insight Venture Partners, used a similar approach last year. Its portfolio company Community Brands acquired Force.com-native association management software provider NimbleAMS in April 2017.

Expansion Beyond CRM in the Salesforce Ecosystem

  • Despite Salesforce’s acquisition of Rypple in 2011 and the emergence of several Force.com unicorns, HCM offerings on the platform have remained limited. Bullhorn’s transactions represent a significant investment in building out a portfolio of HCM-related offerings on the Salesforce platform to fill this gap.
  • Recently, Kenandy and Rootstock Software, two Force.com-native companies, merged to create a comprehensive MRP offering on the platform to fill a similar gap. Meanwhile, FinancialForce provides comprehensive ERP functionality.
  • Driving these expansions are continuous investments in the Salesforce ecosystem. Totaling over $1 billion, these investments include TBP’s recent co-investments with Salesforce Ventures in Simplus and Full Circle Insights.

Staffing and Recruiting Software Transactions

About True Blue Partners, LLC
True Blue Partners is a boutique M&A advisory firm that serves lower mid-market enterprise software, services, and solutions companies. It brings the rigorous strategic and financial perspective of bulge bracket firms with a company building approach and steadfast partnership that only an independent boutique firm can deliver. For more information, please visit www.truebluepartners.com or email us at info @ truebluepartners . com

TBP was NOT an advisor to this transaction.