IFS to acquire enterprise asset management firm Ultimo

To help meet demand from enterprises that are shifting asset management methods from legacy applications to cloud-based technology,  ERP provider IFS has signed an agreement to acquire Netherlands-based enterprise asset management (EAM) software firm Ultimo.

IFS, which is based in Sweden and has customers globally, says that it is acquiring Ultimo because it believes that the company’s SaaS offering can provide high levels of flexibility and configurability for customers.

EAM can be considered a subset of ERP software, providing tools and applications to manage the lifecycle of physical assets in an enterprise, in order to maximize their value.

IFS’ acquisition comes at a time when the EAM market is growing due to the move to cloud architecture, growing demand for an enterprisewide view of assets for strategic planning, and increasing deployment of IoT platforms and devices.

The global EAM market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7% to reach $5.5 billion by 2026, from $3.3 billion in 2020, according to market research firm MarketsandMarkets.

IFS, which expects the acquisition to close in the third quarter of 2022, plans to use Ultimo’s software in conjunction with its own cloud-based EAM offering. Ultimo focuses on providing EAM to midsize companies in manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, infrastructure and utilities.

After refreshing its ERP suite every three years since 2012, IFS last year switched to a six-month refresh cycle to ensure that customers always have access to its latest features.

Market research firm Gartner, in its Market Share: Enterprise Resource Planning Worldwide 2021 report, positioned IFS at the top of EAM vendors in terms of revenue, with 18% market share, after sales grew 29.1% year-on-year. The Ultimo acquisition should help IFS compete in the EAM market with vendors including IBM, SAP, Microsoft and Oracle.

Ultimo, which was founded in 1988, has 180 employees with more than 2,000 customers including London Gatwick Airport, BASF, VTTI, Ravago, Vion Food Group, Argent Energy, and Hutchison Ports ECT Rotterdam