SoftwareOne has ringed 17 March as the likely date it will commence its offer for Crayon, as it predicted its profits will double in 2025.
In a full-year results announcement this morning, the Switzerland-based software licensing giant said it expects to close its acquisition of its Nordic peer in June 2025.
2024 revenues and adjusted EBITDA were both in line with the – albeit reduced – guidance it unveiled in the Autumn.
The former inched up 2.9% to 1.02bn Swiss Francs, while the latter slipped 7.6% to 223.4m Swiss Francs.
Adding colour to Crayon deal
Announced in December, SoftwareOne’s acquisition of Norway-based Crayon is set to create a software licensing superpower with 13,000 staff.
Experts say recent incentive changes from Microsoft – which generates 70% of the duo’s combined revenues – could have been instrumental in their decision to join forces.
SoftwareOne said it has now begun “early-stage integration planning” for the deal.
Its voluntary recommended offer for Crayon is set to commence on or around 17 March 2025, with the deal now slated to close in June 2025 (it originally pencilled in Q3 2025).
Crayon co-founders Rune Syversen and Jens Rugseth – who together own 5% of Crayon and have committed to tendering their shares in the offer – are set to join SoftwareOne’s board once the transaction closes.
Profits predicted to perk up
SoftwareOne struck a bullish tone in its results statement, predicting that reported EBITDA would double in 2025 (after tumbling 28% to 116m Swiss Francs in 2024 on the back of higher expenses).
After dipping from 24.3% to 22% in 2024, EBITDA margin is also expected to rebound to between 24% and 26% this year.
“Decisive action” has been taken to resolve the sales execution issues encountered in the second half of 2024, SoftwareOne said.
This has restored a “growth trajectory” for the impacted countries, namely NORAM, Mexico and the UK (the latter of which it conceded posted “weak” results last year).
The SIX Swiss-listed giant said it had “over-achieved” on a new cost reduction programme announced in November 2024, with 58m Swiss Francs of annualised savings achieved by year-end 2024, meanwhile.
Copilot claims
SoftwareOne and Crayon claim their combined base of Microsoft Copilot users stands at around one million.
The number of new Copilot users SoftwareOne added in Q4 fell to 67,000, down from 120,000 in Q3 and 325,000 in Q2. Its total Copilot user base now stands at 787,000.
SoftwareOne CEO Raphael Erb stated:
“In 2024, our performance was impacted by continued uncertainty in the economic environment resulting in a muted Q4 budget flush in key markets, including DACH, as well as GTM-related execution issues in the second half of the year.
“In response, we focused on the priorities we set out in November last year. Firstly, we took decisive action to resolve the GTM-related disruption, with impacted countries demonstrating early signs of generating new sales pipeline and improved sales productivity. Secondly, we swiftly executed on the cost reduction programme, over-achieving the targeted savings well ahead of schedule. With fewer management layers and reduced complexity, this was an important step to empowering our front-line and restoring customer-centricity and agility. Finally, we appointed highly experienced leaders in several regions, including DACH and the Rest of EMEA, to drive positive change.
“As we progress through 2025, we remain focused on execution and look forward to completing the combination with Crayon. This is a unique opportunity to bring together two highly complementary businesses with shared values to create a global leader in software and cloud solutions, driving additional growth and significant value creation for shareholders.”
