Calero Purchases European TEM Leader A&B Groep: What to Expect?

Note: This blog contains excerpts from Amalgam’s Due Diligence Dossier on Calero. To get the full report, click here.

In January 2018, Calero announced two acquisitions, Comview and A&B Groep. These acquisitions have increased Calero’s headcount by over 70 employees, added geographic footprint, demonstrated a specific profile for acquisition, and demonstrates the willingness for new owners, Riverside Partners, to quickly take action within 120 days of acquiring Calero. This combination of acquisition, execution, and stated focus result in the need to re-evaluate Calero in context of these significant changes.

Calero’s acquisition of A&B Groep provides an important base for European operations. Founded in 1999 and based in Amsterdam, A&B Groep is best known for its auditing and telecom benchmarks. A&B Groep is well-known for its strong services capabilities and for its partnerships with large consultancies and Sis. For instance, in 2016, A&B Groep won the Services Business Partner Leadership award from IBM based on their partnering to win a Benelux-based telecom expense management account. Amalgam believes that this acquisition will both shore up Calero’s support of European operations and provide additional opportunities for Calero to work with global consultancies in supporting telecom, network, mobility, and other IT spend categories.

With the acquisitions of Comview and A&B Groep, over 70 employees have been added to Calero. Based on the cultures of these companies, it is obvious that Calero is investing both in TEM capabilities and in companies that have been focused on customer loyalty and retention. Both companies have been long-time providers of TEM and boast premier clients in their respective focus areas.

With these acquisitions, Calero also gains footprints in the highly strategic New York City and Amsterdam metropolitan areas: two of the most important business centers in the world. As Calero continues to pursue global TEM projects, this footprint will help Calero in providing “feet on the street” in helping local clients from a pre-sale, implementation, and consulting perspective. With these offices, Calero matches up well with its most immediate competitors, Tangoe and MDSL, in its metropolitan office footprint.

With the acquisition of A&B Groep, Calero now has a significant office in the European Union which will strengthen Calero’s ability to pursue European-based accounts. With this acquisition, Amalgam expects that Calero’s head-to-head competitions against Tangoe, MDSL, and Ezwim for European-based accounts will be more fiercely contested.

Based on the strong service foundations of Comview and A&B Groep, Calero is better positioned for provide greater service flexibility. Both of the firms acquired were known for their client responsiveness, both from a service perspective and in their flexibility in customizing their solutions as mid-sized TEM vendors. This DNA will be useful as Calero continues to compete in the large enterprise market where TEM requires process and functional customization to match each potential client’s IT, finance, accounting, sourcing, and operational practices.

Calero customers should also benefit from this acquisition as it allows Calero to engage European-based customers and offices more frequently.

Overall, Amalgam believes that A&B Groep will provide value to Calero and that this acquisition demonstrates both Calero’s commitment to growth and Riverside Partners’ commitment to Calero as a portfolio company. This acquisition cements Calero as the #2 TEM vendor in terms of spend under management that can be verified. However, Calero still faces strong competition from the likes of MDSL, Cass, and GSG, which are all similar in size and have also been growing rapidly.

If you have any questions about this blog post or the related Due Diligence Dossier, please feel free to email us directly at info@amalgaminsights.com. And if you enjoyed this post, please share below!