Clairfield Nordics advise Confirma Software on two acquisitions

Clairfield teams in Sweden and in Finland advised Confirma Software on its latest acquisitions in those two countries. Confirma Software acquired DataVara AB, a leading Swedish provider of payroll systems and services, and simultaneously acquired SKJ Systems, a Finnish provider of point-of-sales systems. Confirma is a longtime client of Clairfield and has made numerous acquisitions of Nordic software companies advised by members of Clairfield’s technology team in Finland, Norway, and now Sweden as well.   

Confirma Software, headquartered in Stockholm, provides vertical enterprise software solutions in the Nordic region. It was founded in 2019 by Abry Partners, a US-based private equity fund with deep sector knowledge in business and information services. Since the formation of the fund in 1989, Abry has completed over 550 transactions and currently manages over USD 5 billion of capital across its active funds.

DataVara AB provides payroll systems and services for the SME segment in Sweden through its core product, Crona Lön. Over 2,300 companies and organizations use Crona Lön and over 150,000 paychecks are processed in the system every month.

SKJ Systems is Finnish provider of point-of-sales (POS) systems under the Jeemly and Flowvy brands. SKJ’s modular software is used by over 1000 customers in the retail, restaurant, and consumer services industries.

The two acquisitions demonstrate Confirma Software’s acquisition strategy into new and existing verticals and Clairfield teams have been key to the implementation of this strategy. The DataVara acquisition expands on its outsourced financial services offerings by adding a leading provider of payroll systems while simultaneously establishing a presence in Sweden. The SKJ Systems acquisition demonstrates Confirma Software´s strategy to grow in the Nordic market through the acquisition of Nordic software companies with established market positions, serving the Nordic SME-market or the public sector.

“Advisory work by the Clairfield teams was of the highest quality and enabled us to complete the transactions efficiently and expectedly. Their contacts and knowledge of the Nordic software sector has been instrumental for us in realizing the growth strategy” says Jarle Mørk, CEO of Confirma Software.

“We are happy to see that both Confirma Software and many of the target companies on our long list have managed through the pandemic with limited impact, demonstrating the resilience of the business model. We are in discussions with a number of new targets and expect to be able to continue to execute transactions in 2020,” says Rob Nicewicz of Abry Partners.

Read more about the transaction and Clairfield’s experience in advising software companies here: Deal of the month: Confirma