Wolters Kluwer N.V.: Wolters Kluwer has acquired Vanguard Software
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Vanguard Software serves companies of all sizes across every major industry in more than 60 countries, helping them to improve forecasting, reduce overstocks, optimize inventory distribution, and reduce supply chain costs. Vanguard Predictive Planning solutions use artificial intelligence, algorithmic modeling, process automation, and a collaboration hub to enable companies to optimize and automate end-to-end supply chain planning. In 2021, the Vanguard Predictive Planning platform was ranked as a leader in Supply Chain Planning by Nucleus Research and received an honorable mention from Gartner.
Vanguard Software revenues derive from subscription-based cloud software (averaging approximately 55% of total revenues in recent years) and software-related professional implementation and consulting services. The company recorded total revenues of $7.2 million in 2020 (un-audited). While the COVID-19 pandemic caused a contraction in services last year, recurring cloud software revenues grew 33% organically in 2020. A majority of revenue is from North America. We expect the acquisition to achieve a return on invested capital above our after-tax weighted average cost of capital of 8% within 3 to 5 years. The impact on Wolters Kluwer adjusted net profit is immaterial. Founded in 1995, Vanguard Software is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, and has approximately 40 employees.