IFS and Astea International Announce Definitive Agreement to Strengthen Global Leadership in Field Service Management Business

LONDON and HORSHAM, P.A., Oct. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IFS, the global enterprise applications company, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase global software company Astea International (USOTC: ATEA). The transaction will enable the combined company to serve more customers in more markets, through a broader network of the best talent and partners in the industry.

IFS has driven significant organic growth of its field service software business, with license revenues increasing by 119%* YTD 2019. By combining with Astea, IFS will further expand its global footprint beyond its more than 10,000 customers worldwide, of which 8,000 are in service management. In 2020, IFS anticipates FSM license revenues to grow at more than 40%, approximately 80% of which are forecast to be recurring.

For years, IFS has provided customers in its focus industries solutions that can support a massive range of service management work, from highly complex field service operations, through to transactional field routing functions. By adding Astea to its already robust platform, the combined company will be in an even stronger position to take advantage of major industry trends like servitization to drive more value for customers in all focus industries.

With a similar heritage of rich customer and industry focus, and decades of market expertise, Astea serves midsize and large enterprise customers in Telecommunications, Controls & Instrumentation, Fire & Security, Medical Devices, Manufacturing, Industrial and Retail Equipment verticals. Astea's customers include blue-chip global brands and Fortune 500 companies across the globe.

"Both organizations, our customers, partners and employees will benefit from our collective domain expertise," commented IFS CEO Darren Roos. "Astea CEO Zack Bergreen and his team have built a well-recognized FSM player with fantastic blue-chip customers, highly talented employees and a sophisticated product offering. With this acquisition, we will build the most attractive FSM offering in the industry today to push ourselves to do more for our customers." Roos concluded by saying, "When it comes to customer value, this combination is absolutely greater than the sum of its parts."

Zack Bergreen, CEO and Founder of Astea noted, "We've long admired IFS's growth and global scale and know that they share our customer-centric approach to Field Service Management. I am grateful for the commitment our employees have demonstrated, which has enabled today's transformative announcement." He added, "As I've gotten to know Darren and his management team during this process, I can say I'm looking forward to working with the entire IFS organization to offer our customers the best Field Service Management solutions on the market."

IFS's recognition in Field Service Management has been validated by global research firms like Gartner, who has consistently placed IFS in the Leader Quadrant of its Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management Software since 2014. Astea is among the few vendors in market who has secured recognition from Gartner for its strong product capabilities and loyal base of global players.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by Astea International's Board of Directors. The transaction is subject to the approval of Astea's shareholders, including Astea's controlling shareholder, the CEO and Founder, who, along with the CFO, has signed a voting agreement in support of the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2019.

* H1 2019 vs. H1 2018

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SOURCE IFS