Battery Ventures-backed Forterro has acquired Clip Industrie, a provider of computer-aided production management software for industrial small to medium-sized businesses.
Independent private investment group Ardian will sell its 15% stake in the France-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software company for an undisclosed amount after having acquired it in 2013. In four years, Clip Industrie has doubled its revenue while maintaining strong profitability and rising to become one of the leaders in its market. With Ardian’s growth and build-up strategy, Clip bought out rival software publisher Helios in 2013.
Clip Industrie provides two vertical ERP software packages, Clipper and Helios, designed to meet the needs of industrial businesses in the aeronautics, automotive, medical, rail and watch making sectors, along with subsidiaries and workshops of larger groups such as Michelin, the Air Force or Eiffage and subcontractors of Dassault and Airbus. The company currently provides its operations management solutions to nearly 2,000 companies and 25,000 users every day.
Austin, TX-based Forterro already owns a handful of companies in the global ERP software space. The acquisition marks Forterro’s sixth midmarket ERP software purchase in Europe.
“Clip is a successful, well-run business with a strong brand promise for distinct target market segments within France—and it fits perfectly within Forterro’s federation of companies,” said Jeff Tognoni, CEO of Forterro.
As Forterro holds multiple and sometimes competing software products, the company says it has no intention of fusing any of its products together or promising a single flagship solution across multiple geographies. “Rather, our strategy is to champion a diverse range of solution to a diverse set of markets,’ said Tognoni.
Clip Industrie’s CEO Arnaud Martin will continue to lead the tech firm and support its future development as an operating company of Forterro.
