App Dev M&A: Progress Acquires MarkLogic for Semantic Data Expertise

by Sharon Florentine • Jan 6, 2023

Application development and infrastructure software provider Progress Software has acquired MarkLogic for $355 million. When closed, the acquisition is expected to add more than $100 million in annual revenue. The acquisition is currently expected to close in early 2023, subject to obtaining regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions set forth in the definitive agreement.

This is technology M&A deal number six that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2023. See more than 2,000 technology M&A deals involving MSPs, MSSPs & IT service providers listed here.

Progress Acquires MarkLogic

Progress, founded in 1981, is based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The company has 3,308employees listed on LinkedIn. Progress’s areas of expertise include application development, web development, cloud development, application modernization, digital experience, content management, data connectivity, business rules, secure file transfer, network monitoring, frontend development, developer productivity, UI library, UI components, automated testing, web proxy, design systems, DevOps, DevSecOps and cloud deployment.

MarkLogic, founded in 2001, is based in Redwood City, California. The company has 294 employees listed on LinkedIn. MarkLogic’s areas of expertise include data integration, search and discovery, data management, semantics, multimodel, metadata, NoSQL, complex data and data platform.

The acquisition of MarkLogic will add a semantic data platform to Progress’ portfolio, the companies said.

Yogesh Gupta, CEO, Progress, commented on the news:

“The key to the success of any business is its ability to tackle complex data challenges through informed decision making. To do this effectively, users must turn data into actionable insights—and that is what MarkLogic delivers. Progress’ digital experience and infrastructure software products along with MarkLogic products will create an unmatched platform, giving customers access to an increasingly more complete offering to drive business success.”

Jeffrey Casale, CEO, MarkLogic, added:

“I’m extremely proud of what our team at MarkLogic has been able to accomplish since the Vector Capital acquisition—from major product releases and customer wins, to the acquisition of Smartlogic. As part of a larger, well-established organization, I’m confident that our team will thrive with new opportunities for professional development and innovation, and our customers will gain access to an expansive product portfolio that will enhance their digital experiences and elevate their infrastructure management capabilities.”

About Progress

Progress, led by CA Technologies, Fatwire and Kaseya veteran Yogesh Gupta, offers software to help partners develop, deploy and manage business applications. In 2020, Progress acquired DevOps and DevSecOps software specialist Chef for $220 million in cash.

Progress serves more than 100,000 ‌enterprise‌ ‌customers,‌ ‌six million ‌business‌ ‌users,‌ ‌and‌ ‌an‌ ‌ecosystem‌ ‌of‌ ‌over‌ ‌two ‌million‌ ‌developers‌. Moreover, Progress’s channel partner ecosystem spans ‌over 1,700‌ ‌independent software vendors (ISVs),‌ ‌VARs,‌ ‌and‌ ‌systems integrators, the company says.

Jefferies LLC served as the exclusive financial advisor for MarkLogic on this transaction. DLA Piper LLP (US) served as Progress’ legal counsel and Paul Hastings LLP served as MarkLogic’s legal counsel with respect to the transaction.