After $12.3B Dayforce Buy, Thoma Bravo Gets CX Automation Firm Verint For $2B

Just last week, we reported that American private equity and growth capital firm Thoma Bravo—which manages around $184 billion in assets—had struck a deal to acquire Dayforce, a global leader in human capital management (HCM) technology. 

Set for $12.3 billion through an all-cash transaction—where stockholders will receive $70 per share in cash at a 32% premium—the deal will make Dayforce a privately held company. 

The move comes as companies are investing in artificial intelligence (AI) technology and firms that provide diverse AI-based services—and keeping to the sentiment, Thoma Bravo announced another acquisition. 

Through a press release published on its website, Thoma Bravo said it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Verint Systems, Inc., a customer experience (CX) automation company that serves more than 80 of the Fortune 100 companies with powerful AI-powered bots. 

The all-cash transaction represents an enterprise value of $2 billion for the company, where Verint common shareholders will receive $20.5 per share in cash, at an 18% premium over the company's 10-day volume-weighted average. However, it’s not subject to a financing condition. 

The completion of the deal is subject to customary closing conditions, regulatory approvals, and approval by Verint shareholders—and is expected to close in early 2026. 

Thoma Bravo’s plan is to combine Verint with Calabrio, one of its portfolio companies, which itself was acquired on April 19, 2021. 

Post completion, the two will merge into one and become the leading provider of CX automation solutions in a $50 billion market, empowering customers to advance critical CX workflows and enable faster and more effective business outcomes from customer interactions.

“Together Calabrio and Verint will bring a powerful set of products to accelerate a shared vision: delivering an AI-powered, open CX-platform to customers who are focused on driving strong business outcomes in their operations. As a combined company we are well positioned to lead the industry forward,” said Dave Rhodes, Calabrio CEO.

Calabrio’s workforce performance suite—Calabrio ONE—optimizes human interactions, maximizes agent performance, and boosts workforce efficiency, allowing organizations to exceed customer expectations by leveraging connected data, AI-fueled analytics, automated workforce management, and personalized coaching.
 

“Thoma Bravo’s investment is a testament to our CX Automation category leadership. Leading brands around the world are reporting strong AI business outcomes with the Verint CX Automation Platform,” said Verint CEO and Chairman Dan Bodner.

[Contd.] “We are making good progress in delivering AI-powered solutions to an early stage CX Automation market, and we recently announced that our AI Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) now represents 50% of our total ARR. We look forward to extending our category leadership together with Thoma Bravo.”
“We have been active in the CX space for many years and are excited to bring these two companies together to lead more innovation and growth in the category. Calabrio and Verint both have powerful product portfolios and go-to-market strategies that cover the needs of a wide spectrum of the market,” said Mike Hoffmann, a Partner at Thoma Bravo.

[Contd.] “Together, the combined company will have the industry’s broadest CX platform, enabling brands of all sizes to drive transformative, AI-driven outcomes.”

This acquisition, along with that of the previously reported Dayforce deal, comes as Thoma Bravo announced the sale of MeridianLink—a leading provider of modern software platforms for financial institutions and consumer reporting agencies, and one of its portfolio companies—to Centerbridge Partners—a global investment firm with deep experience investing in financial services and technology—in an all-cash transaction worth $2 billion.

Do you think these moves will help Thoma Bravo build an ecosystem of AI-focused companies that could lead the way in innovation in the AI era?

Let us know in the comments below!