Corel and Parallels sold to US investment group KKR

On July 3, 2019, KKR, one of the world's leading investment companies, announced that it had completed the acquisition of Corel Corporation. Together with it, all software products and assets were transferred to the buyer Parallels, which was bought by Corel last year.

The fact that KKR plans to acquire Corel became known back in May 2019. The total amount of the transaction is not disclosed.

Following the closing of the deal, KRR will take over all of the assets previously acquired by Corel, including Parallels, which is well-known for its software for running Windows applications on a Mac without rebooting. The KKR software portfolio now includes the entire Parallels product line, including Parallels Desktop for Mac, Parallels Toolbox for Windows and Mac, Parallels Access, Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM, and Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS).
The financial side of the deal was not disclosed.

Parallels was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. Parallels is the world leader in cross-platform solutions.

Founded in the 1980s in Ottawa, Canada, Corel Corporation is uniquely positioned at the intersection of several large and growing markets, totaling nearly $25 billion in key verticals, and offers a broad portfolio of software solutions that enable more than 90 million knowledge workers worldwide.

Corel has a long history of acquisitions and acquisitions, the most recent of which include the acquisition of Parallels, ClearSlide and MindManager products. Corel's list of assets also includes at least 15 proprietary software products, most of them related to graphics in one way or another. These include the vector graphics editor CorelDraw, the digital painting and drawing software Corel Painter, the bitmap graphics editor Corel Photo-Paint, and even its own Linux distribution, Corel Linux OS. In addition to products developed directly by Corel, the company also owns software from third-party developers acquired by it over the years. This includes WordPerfect text editor, WinDVD media player, WinZip archiver, and Pinnacle Studio video editing software. The number of third-party programs owned by Corel exceeds 15.

“Corel has achieved a unique market position by continually expanding its impressive portfolio of IT solutions. KKR looks forward to working with Corel management to drive further business growth while leveraging the team's extensive M&A experience to launch a new chapter of innovation and growth on a global scale,” said John Park, member of the KKR Council.

“KKR primarily recognizes the value of our people and their impressive accomplishments, especially in terms of our customer service, technological innovation and successful acquisition and acquisition strategy. With the support of KKR and a shared vision, exciting new opportunities are opening up for our company, products and users,” said Patrick Nichols, CEO of Corel.

“Corel has been an important part of the Vector Capital family for many years and we are delighted to have achieved a fantastic outcome for our investors with the sale of KKR,” commented Alex Slusky, founder and chief investment officer of Vector Capital. During this time, Corel Corporation completed several transformational acquisitions, increased revenue and significantly improved its profitability. We are confident that Corel has found a worthy partner in KKR and wish them continued success together.”

For KKR, investments in Corel come primarily from the KKR Americas XII Fund.
Corel and Vector Capital were represented by Sidley Austin LLP in this transaction, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Deloitte represented KKR.

The KKR investment group was founded in 1976. Over the 43 years of its existence, it has reported more than 150 acquisitions, the total amount of which amounted to around $ 345 billion. The group owns companies from various business areas. In 2014, KKR acquired Fujian Sunner Development, China's largest chicken farm, for $400 million, and in February 2019 took over the German media company Tele München Gruppe, founded in 1970.

Representatives of KKR noted that the investment group will continue to develop the strategy proposed by Corel - to buy promising software companies and use their assets.

Source: habr.com