2. * Growth rate estimated by AVentures Capital based on the financials of a set of market players who disclosed their results directly to AVentures Capital
** For other factors influencing valuation see slide #5-6
CEE Software Development M&A in 2020: Executive Summary
2
Public companies perform at
record levels
Consistently high M&A activity
Leaders` M&A | IPO / exit play
• Most companies slowed down in growth in 2020 from an average 20-25% to an estimated 10-15%
resuming high growth in Q4 2020*
• Public companies with CEE presence trade at record high after stocks plunged in Q2 of 2020
• High number of M&A / investments in CEE with 29 deals announced in 2020 beating 26 in 2019
• Key valuation principle in most deals: single digit EBITDA multiple for <$50M revenue companies and
double-digit EBITDA multiple for $50-100M+ revenue companies and for smaller players with strong
vertical focus and high gross margin profile**
• At least 5+ well-funded CEE players with revenue of $100M continued to expand via M&A with the
goal of an IPO / exit play
• We expect to see first IPOs of these players in 2021 / 2022
“Seller`s” M&A market in Ukraine • Limited number of companies put for sale with more demand to acquire than interest to sell
Resilient performance amid global Covid-19 pandemic
Cash accumulation
• As companies cut costs and optimized EBITDA, many accumulated cash and are looking to
acquire small/medium-sized targets which may result in increased number of deals in 2021
Few deals in Belarus • Amid the political crisis, with just 2 M&As announced, Belarus saw the lowest number of
announced deals since 2016
3. Note: Data as of March 1, 2021. Source: Yahoo Finance
Covid-19 impact on public CEE companies
EPAM Systems (NYSE:EPAM), 2012 - 2021 Endava (NYSE:DAVA), 2018 - 2021 Grid Dynamics (Nasdaq:GDYN), 2018 - 2021
• Amid Covid-19 outbreak, the stock of public companies was significantly but temporarily down in March-April of 2020
• Despite this, they hit record values by the end of 2020. Selected CEE IT service companies experienced a 20-30% YoY revenue
growth compared to 2019
6% YoY revenue decrease
37.4% gross margin
-4.6% EBITDA margin
21.8% YoY revenue growth
28.4% gross margin
7% EBITDA margin
16.2% YoY revenue growth
34.7% gross margin
18.6% EBITDA margin
3
2020
financials
4. Superior consistent growth and solid profitability
attract interest from both large international and local
financial investors
Consistent growth of outsourcing
globally
Faster-than-market-average
revenue growth of
outsourcing in CEE
Attractive growth and financial performance of
CEE outsourcing leaders
+ +
High global demand for development
capabilities to deliver increasingly complex
and short time-to-market projects
Projected CAGR: 7.3% 20-25% YOY
CEE outsourcing market growth in
2018 - 2020 by our estimations
The growth temporarily slowed
down to 10-15% on average in
2020
Most companies resumed high
growth in Q4 2020
2017-20 revenue CAGR, %
2020 EBITDA margin, %
Source: AVentures Capital
Source: Gartner
CEE
Source: public data
Rest
of
the
world
Financial investors: capitalizing on
superior growth and profitability
4
16%
-5%
14%
EPAM Grid
Dynamics
Endava
22%
16%
30%
EPAM Grid
Dynamics
Endava
18%
9%
12%
Cognizant Alten Devoteam
4%
9%
12%
Cognizant Alten Devoteam
5. What most of large acquirers
seek for…
5
1
Mid-market and/or enterprise clients with
long term contracts
Above the market average 30+% y-o-y
consistent revenue growth
Company’s ability to retain and win new
large contracts, so most of the revenue is
recurring
High EBITDA (over 15%) and Gross
Margin (over 40%)
Founders’ willingness to stay for 2-4 years
post acquisition
Other strategic rationales might play a role depending on
an acquirer: type of delivery, technology specialization,
industry vertical, business model etc.
2
3
4
5
7
6 Distinguished employee culture resulting in solid
talent retention
6. Vertical capabilities
• Acquisition of new verticals or deepening of existing capabilities
Deal example: Luxoft – CMORE Automotive, 2020 (Automotive vertical)
Delivery diversification
• New delivery geographies to diversify market / political risks
• Delivery in new countries/regions enables to tap into talent pool
Deal example: Endava – Comtrade Digital Services, 2020 (delivery
centers in Slovenia, Serbia, and Bosnia)
Client acquisition
• Acquisition of new clients or enhancement of current client profile
• Small players can be attractive depending on their client profile
Deal example: GlobalLogic – Rofous Software, 2011 (i.e. LinkedIn, Stryker)
Scale
• Enables companies to bid for larger
projects
Deal example: Grid Dynamics – Daxx, 2020
We expect established players to continue
consolidating a fragmented market
Technical / language capabilities
• Enhancement of tech teams is faster via M&A than
through organic growth
Deal example: Sigma Software – IdeaSoft, 2021
And key strategic rationales
driving M&A roll-on strategy
6
Inorganic growth is a way for established players
to expand capabilities, client portfolios and scale
7. 5
20
22
32
26
29
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Selected PE funds active in the region
Selected strategic players active in acquisitions
Count of M&A deals announced in Ukraine,
Poland, Belarus, Romania in 2015-20
Source: AVentures Capital
7
• Attractiveness of the software development
outsourcing industry persists
• 2018 and 2020 had the highest number of M&A /
cash-out deals during the last decade
Result: consistently high M&A activity
in the region in 2018 - 2020
8. Industry leaders expand through M&A,
pursuing IPO / exit play
At least 5 well-funded CEE players with revenue from
$50M up to $100M+ are expanding through M&A
with the aim of IPO / exit play
Our insights into recent private companies deals
demonstrate that implied EV / Revenue lies in 0.9x-
2.0x range and EV / EBITDA in 4.0x-15.0x range.
There are, however, exceptions with transactions at
higher multiples
8
Examples
Public companies receive highest multiples with some
reaching 5x-8x+ EV / Revenue and 20-30x+ EV /
EBITDA vs multiples we observe with private
companies. Thus, public companies have stronger
financial incentives to pursue M&A
Germany
Argentine
Merged from:
Krakow
Note: “Ukraine / Belarus” or “Lviv” – main delivery locations
Belarus / Russia
Russia / Ukraine /
Poland / Argentine
Lviv
Ukraine / Belarus /
Poland / Spain
Germany
Netherlands /
Ukraine / Germany
Lviv
Germany
9. Selected CEE Top-50
Largest IT service players with delivery in CEE
Out of 50 largest IT service companies, 5 make over US $100m in revenue and another 6 exceed the US$ 200 mark within the
four countries
Estimated annual revenue, USD
25-50 m 50-100 m 100-200 m >200 m
Illustrative
14. Year Target Est. # of employees Transaction Value, USD mln Buyer
2018 Intive 1600 (2018) 100 Mid Europa Partners
2018 ORBA 80 (2019) - Lingaro
2018 Fast White Cat 100 (2019) 0.64 SARE S.A.
2018 Order of Code 15 (2019) - TenderHut Group
2018 Appchance 37 (2019) 0.3 R22
2018 Bitcraft 40 (2018) - Netguru
2018 Nexelem n/a - Virtus Lab
2018 Solid Brain 200 (2018) - IT Kontrakt
2018 Goyello 120 (2018) - Aspire Systems
2018 GSW Technologies n/a - TenderHut Group
2017 ReeWise 11 (2019) - Exadel
2017 itWORKS n/a - Euvic, 3S Group
2017 Coders Center 75 (2017) - SoftServe
2017 iNTENCE 100 (2017) - Intive
2017 IT Kontrakt 1300 (2016) 33
Oaktree Capital /
Cornerstone Partners
2017 FDV Solutions 100 (2017) - Intive
2017 Sensinum 16 (2017) - Virtus Lab
POLAND (2/3)
14
15. Year Target Est. # of employees Transaction Value, USD mln Buyer
2017 Qburst Poland n/a - TenderHut
2017 LIT n/a - TenderHut
2017 Edisonda 30 (2017) - Grant Thornton Poland
2017 Team of developers of Vorm n/a - Netguru
2016 AKME Software n/a - Exadel
2016
SMT, BLStream, Kupferwerk merged
into Intive
1200 (2016) - Enterprise Investors
2016 DCC Labs 70 (2016) 7 SeaChange
2016
Operations of Ericpol in Poland and
Ukraine
2300 (2016) - Ericsson
2016 Sigmapoint 12 (2019) - Grand Parade
2016 LemonTea n/a - TenderHut
2016 REC Global 500 (2016) - GlobalLogic
2016 ProService 350 (2016) -
Oaktree Capital /
Cornerstone Partners
2016 Ardeo 14 (2019) 0.05 Venture Inc
2016 Outbox 250 (2021) - PwC
2015 SMT Software 700 (2015) 38 Enterprise Investors
2015 El Passion Next 59 (2019) - Daftcode
POLAND (3/3)
15
16. Year Target Est. # of employees Transaction Value, USD mln Buyer
2021 Gemini Solutions 119 (2021) - ThoughtWorks
2020 Tremend Software Consulting 375 (2021) 4.2 EBRD
2020 Whyttest 74 (2021) - Testronic
2020 Comtrade Digital Services 316 (2021) - Endava
2020 Zenitech 209 (2021) - Sovereign Capital
2020 3Pillar Global 1052 (2021) - CIP Capital
2020 Tiempo Development 280 (2021) - 3Pillar Global
2020 Isthmus Software 118 (2021) - 3Pillar Global
2020 Citymesh 58 (2021) - Cegeka
2020 iQuest Group 660 (2021) - Nagarro Holding
2020 Udev 6 (2021) - Zitec
2020 Metro Systems Romania S.R.L 1300 (2021) - Wipro
2020 Cyber Smart Defense 12 (2021) - Stefanini
2020 Quantic Lab 218 (2021) 5.64 Embracer Group
2020 PitechPlus 222 (2021) - Webhelp
2020 Accesa 636 (2021) - Ratiodata
ROMANIA (1/3)
16
17. Year Target Est. # of employees Transaction Value, USD mln Buyer
2019 Successyou 25 (2020) - OSF Global
2019 Blueleaf 13 (2020) - OSF Global
2019 Soul Ecommerce 15 (2020) - OSF Global
2019 Vauban 266 (2020) - GFI
2019 PitechPlus 240 (2020) - Webhelp
2019 Architected Business Solutions 32 (2020) - Totalsoft
2019 BeeSpeed 100 (2020) - ZF
2019 UCMS Romania 14 (2020) - AROBS
2018 iQuest 580 (2019) - Allgeier
2018 BSS-ONE Dueenne 80 (2018) 0.8 Right of Reply
2018 648 Group n/a - Tremend
2018 SAS Grup n/a - Arobs Transilvania
2018 CoSo 10 (2018) 1 Arobs Transilvania
2018 OSF Global 900 (2019) -
HSBC, BDC Capital,
Salesforce Ventures
2018 Softvision 2850 (2018) 478 Cognizant
2018 Architected Business Solutions 50 (2018) - Logo Software
ROMANIA (2/3)
17
18. Year Target Est. # of employees Transaction Value, USD mln Buyer
2018 Dendrio Solutions 52 (2021) 5.66 Crescendo International
2018 SkyShield Magyarorszag n/a - Arobs Transilvania
2017 MindMagnet 24 (2019) - Pitech Plus
2017 It Six 140 (2019) - QuEST
2017 Zitec 160 (2017) 2 eMAG
2016 ISDC 300 (2016) - Endava
2016 Software Paradigms International n/a - Softvision
2016 LaunchPodium n/a - Qualitance
2016 Kepler-Rominfo 250 (2016) - Alten
2016 Inotec Plus n/a - Zitec
2016 TotalSoft 400 (2016) 30 Logo Software
ROMANIA (3/3)
18
19. Year Target Est. # of employees Transaction Value, USD mln Buyer
2021 Exadel 1011(2021) - Sun Capital
2020 Ricston 31 (2021) - EPAM Systems
2020 Deltix 80 (2020) - EPAM Systems
2019 Naya Technologies 76 (2020) - EPAM Systems
2019 Competentum Group 80 (2020) - EPAM Systems
2019 Test IO 283 (2020) 17.3 EPAM Systems
2019 OCSICO ~90 (2020) - ScienceSoft
2018 Solbegsoft 250 (2018) - Helmes
2018 Itransition 2000 (2018) - Baring Vostok
2018 Continuum n/a - EPAM Systems
2018 TH_NK 120 (2019) - EPAM Systems
2017 Softline 3500 (2019) 9 Zubr Capital
2017 Cactussoft 111 (2019) - Litussoft
2017 PointSource 76 (2017) - Globant
2016 Softline 3500 (2019) 36 Da Vinci Capital
BELARUS (1/2)
19
20. Year Target Est. # of employees Transaction Value, USD mln Buyer
2016 Dextrys 300 (2019) - EPAM Systems
2015 NavigationArts 90 (2019) - EPAM Systems
2015 Alliance Global Services 1100 (2015) 45 EPAM Systems
BELARUS (2/2)
20
22. Revenue
GBP 351m
(FY 2020)
EBITDA
GBP 40m
(FY 2020)
Revenue CAGR, 2017-20
30% y-o-y
# of engineers
7,564
(FY 2020)
Delivery geography, FY 2020
North America: 29%, Europe: 24%, United Kingdom: 44%, Rest of
the world 3%
Revenue % by vertical
Payments and financial services: 53%, tech,
media and comm-s: 26%, other 21%
(FY 2020)
2014 2015 2016 2018
2014. Alpheus Solutions
(Germany / UK)
2015. PSTECH (Serbia) and
Nickel Fish Design (US)
2016. ISDC
(Romania and Bulgaria)
2018. Velocity Partners
(Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia and Venezuela)
2018. IPO on NYSE.
2019
2019. Exozet
(Germany), Intuitus
Limited
(Scotland)
Acquisitions
PE funds
attracted
2020
2020. Comtrade Digital Services
(Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia)
2021
2021. Pet Minuta
(Croatia, US)
23. Revenue
US$ 2.66bn
(FY 2020)
EBITDA
US$ 442m
(FY 2020)
Revenue CAGR, 2015-20
24% y-o-y
# of engineers
38,000
(Q3 2020)
Delivery geography
North America: 60%, Europe: 33.1%, CIS: 4.3%, APAC: 2.6%
Revenue % by vertical
Business Information & Media: 22%,
financial services: 21%, software & hi-tech:
18%, travel & consumer: 17%
(Q3 2020)
PE funds
attracted
Acquisitions 2003 2004 2006 2008 2009 2010 2012 2014 2015 2016
2006. Siguler Guff
2008. Renaissance Investment
Management, Da Vinci Capital,
Euroventures Capital
2010. VTB Capital
2006. Vested
Development Inc. (Russia)
2003. Lintec Project
(Belarus)
2004. Fathom
Technology
(Hungary)
2008. B2BITS Corp.
(US / UA), Plus Micro
(KZ)
2009. Rodmon
Systems (US / BY)
2007. Spline
Software (UA)
2010. Instant
Information (US / BY)
2012. Thoughtcorp
(Canada) + Empathy
Lab (US)
2014. GGA Software Services
(Russia) + Joint Technology
Development (China) + NetSoft,
Great Fridays (US), Ozsoft (AM)
2015.
NavigationArts,
Alliance Global
Services (US)
2016. Dextrys (China),
InfomatiX (Hungary)
2018. Continuum
(US), TH_NK (UK)
2012. IPO on NYSE.
2018 2019
2019. NAYS (Israel),
Competentum Group
(RU, BY), test IO (US,
DE, UA)
2020
2020. Ricston
(Malta, UK, Spain)
2021
2021. PolSource
(Poland, US)
24. Revenue
US$ 850m+
(2020)
Revenue growth
22-25% y-o-y
# of engineers
19,000+
(2020)
Delivery geography
India, Ukraine, Argentina, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, USA, Canada, Israel, China
Revenue % by vertical
Media & communications: 30-35%, high tech and commerce:
30%, medical devices and industrial engineering: 20-25%
Acquisitions 2000 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 2016 2018
2000. Founded,
investment by New
Atlantic Ventures
2006. Westbridge Capital and
New Enterprise Associates
2008. Sequoia Capital, New Atlantic
Ventures and New Enterprise
Associates
2010. Goldman Sachs
2013. Apax Partners acquires
GlobalLogic
2017. Canadian Pension Plan Investment
Board acquires 48% stake from Apax
2006. Lambent Technologies
(India), Bonus Technology (US /
Ukraine)
2009. InterObject (Israel) and
Cubika (Argentina)
2011. Rofous Software (India), Method
Incorporated (US/UK)
2016. REC Global
(Poland)
2018. Apax sold remaining 48%
stake to Partners Group
2019
2019. Skookum (US),
Assign (Sweden)
PE funds
attracted
2020. Meelogic
(Germany, Poland),
ECS Group (UK)
2017 2020
25. Revenue
US$ 907m
(FY 2018)
EBITDA
US$ 112m
(FY 2018)
Revenue CAGR, 2014-18
23% y-o-y
# of engineers
12,716
(Dec 2018)
Delivery geography
Western Europe: 9%, Poland / Romania / Bulgaria: 31%, Ukraine:
28%, Russia: 18%, North America: 9%, APAC & MEA: 6%
Revenue % by vertical
Financial services: 51%, digital enterprise:
25%, automotive: 25%
(3Q 2019)
PE / IPO funds
attracted
Acquisitions 2006 2008 2012 2013
2006. IT Consulting
International (US)
2008. ITC
Networks
(Romania)
2013. Freedom
OSS (US)
2014. Radius Inc (US); Mecel
Populus Suite (Sweden)
2015. Excelian (UK)
2016. Pelagicore (Sweden),
Symtavision (Germany),
InSysGroup (US)
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2017. UnafortiS
(Swiss); derivIT
(Singapore); IntroPro
(Ukraine)
2018. Objective Software
(Germany); Smashing Ideas (US)
2012. VTB Capital 2013. IPO on NYSE
2019. Acquired by DXC
Technologies at ~2x EV
/ Revenue
2020
2020. CMORE
Automotive (Germany)
2019. Acquired by DXC
Technologies (US)
26. Revenue
US$ 111m
(FY 2020)
EBITDA
US$ 13m
(FY 2020)
Revenue CAGR, 2015-20
30% y-o-y
# of engineers
1,894
(FY 2020)
Delivery geography
Russia, Ukraine, Poland, US
Revenue % by vertical
Tech, media, and telecom: 41%, retail:
31%, finance: 12%, CPG/Manufacturing:
13%, other: 4%
(FY 2020)
2016
2016. ASL acquires
Grid Dinamics
2019. Acquired by ChaSerg Technology,
a shell NASDAQ company
2020. IPO on NASDAQ via spin-
off with a MCAP of US$ 600m
March, 2020. Grid dynamics
listed on NASDAQ
2017 2018 2019
2015
2015. Raised US$1.5M
Series B from BGV
2020
PE / IPO funds
attracted
Acquisitions
December, 2020. Grid
Dynamics acquired Daxx
(Ukraine)
2019. Raised US$15M from BGV
27. Vertical expertise:
Pharmaceuticals, financial
services, TMT, Automotive
# of engineers
2,500
(2020)
Delivery geography
Poland, Ukraine, Asia, US, Germany
PE / IPO funds
attracted
Acquisitions 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2018. CoreValue
(Ukraine), Solid Brain
(Poland)
2017. Cornerstone Partners and
Oaktree Capital Management acquire IT
Kontrakt
2019 - 2019. A series of
acquisitions and mergers to form a
platform company
2020
2019. IT Kontrakt, Sevenval
(Germany), CoreValue (Ukraine)
and SolidBrain (Poland) join
forces to form Avenga
Formerly IT Kontrakt
2012. WorkService
acquires IT Kontrakt
Revenue
>US$ 125m
(FY 2020)
28. Vertical expertise:
Automotive, Financial Services,
Consumer Services, Industrial,
High Tech, Media &
Communications
# of engineers
~1,600
(2020)
Delivery geography
Poland, Ukraine, Asia,
US, Germany
PE / IPO funds
attracted
Acquisitions 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2017. Investment in
FDV Solutions
(Argentina) and
iNTENCE (Germany)
2014. Acquisition
Kupferwerk
(Germany)
2014 - 2019. A series of bolt-on
acquisitions. In 2019, acquired by
Mid Europa Partners
2020
Formerly IT Kontrakt
2012. Investment
from Enterprise
Investors
Revenue
~US$ 100m
(FY 2020)
2015. Merged with
SMT Software
(Poland)
2019. Acquired by
Mid Europa Partners
Revenue growth
11% y-o-y
(Q1 2020)
30. • M&A strategy development & implementation
• Sell-side advisory
• Buy-side advisory
Professional, client-tailored investment
banking services:
M&A Advisory for IT Services
companies in Central Eastern Europe
AVentures Capital: what we do
30
31. What makes us proud
A network of 200+ outsourcing
companies around the globe
Unique vertical focus on IT Services and
outstanding sector experience
US$ 300m+ in completed transactions in CEE over
last few years
AVentures advised on some of the landmark
deals in CEE SoftDev
• M&A team fully focused on Software Development
Outsourcing in the CEE region
• Vast Software Development sector experience based
on both investor and M&A advisor perspectives
• Trusted advisor for exits and partnerships in CEE tech
sector
• On-the-ground analytical support and unmatched execution
capabilities
• Top-level contacts with the decision makers of
over 100 largest Software Development
companies in 20+ countries on 4 continents
• The advisor of choice for the largest strategic and institutional
investors doing M&A deals in CEE Tech
31
32. Selected M&A transactions
32
Investments
Minority investor, extensively
helping with strategic
business tasks
Exited
2015
Buy-side advisor to
Soros Funds on
acquisition of a
minority stake
Ciklum
2018
Buy-side advisor to
a financial investor
on majority stake
acquisition
CoreValue
2019 - ongoing
Sell-side advisor to
the shareholders
Undisclosed
• Ciklum: global market focus with
3,500+ developers across 12
delivery centers in Europe and
Asia
• AVentures: buy side adviser and
BoD member for 4 years
• Aventures exited in 2020
• CoreValue: US market focused
Salesforce consulting with 400+
developers across delivery centers
in Ukraine and Poland
• AVentures: buy side adviser for buy
out of the majority stake, minority
investor and BoD member for 3
years
• AVentures exited in 2019
• US market focus with 150+
developers, on-shore delivery
in North America and off-
shore centers in Ukraine
• Mix of dedicated teams and
end-to-end solution
development Viseven
• 500+ developers, outsourcing and
product company
• #1 Pharma vertical player from
Ukraine
• Clients – top pharma companies
globally
Exited
2020
Sell-side advisor to
Daxx during the sale
to Grid Dynamics
Daxx • Daxx: 500+ team across four
delivery centers in Ukraine and
Netherlands with US and EU
clients across industries
• AVentures: sell-side advisor to
shareholders
33. Industry thought leadership
Software Development report: Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Belarus
DealBook of Ukraine: annual overview of tech investments
Publications in global media
First-of-a-kind industry overview.
Comprehensively covers industry
metrics, trends and M&A activity
in the region
“Tech entrepreneurs see
Ukraine as future IT leader”
Link to the article
“First Ukraine House to open at
World Economic Forum in Davos”
Link to the article
“Why we are undervaluing
Ukraine`s tech scene”
Link to the article
“Diane Francis: Turning Ukraine
from the world`s bread basket to
the world`s brain basket”
Link to the article
33
Click to access
34. First-of-a-kind industry overview. Comprehensively
covers industry metrics, trends and M&A activity in the
region
Full Software Development Report:
Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Belarus
Download the full report:
https://software-development-cee-report.com/
The region in numbers
Total IT exports generated by
Poland, Romania, Ukraine and
Belarus
$18bn+
Software development and technical
specialists
660k+
Technical graduates from 200 local
universities and colleges annually
60k+
Count of IT Service M&A transactions
in four countries in 2015-20
137
Please find more details for each of
the countries in the full report 34
Source: AVentures Capital
35. Yevgen Sysoyev
Managing Partner
ys@aventurescapital.com
• Technology advisory and
investments background
• Board Member and investor in
a dozen technology product
and service companies
• INSEAD MBA with distinction,
Math and Economics degree
Yuliya Sychikova
Director
yuliya@aventurescapital.com
• Tech entrepreneurship and VC
background
• Investment and operation
expertise in IT service industry
• BA degree in Economics from
the University of Pennsylvania
Let`s talk?
35
Artur Kachur
Investment Intern
artur@aventurescapital.com
• (cont.) BA degree in Business
from the Minerva Schools at
KGI