Coupa $8bn deal shines light on power of procurement

Coupa Software – the cloud platform for an estimated US$1tn in business spend management – has agreed to be taken private by buy-out firm Thoma Bravo in an all-cash $8bn deal.

The conditions for the deal have been set by high inflation, tapering consumer demand and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, all of which have seen tech-sector stock plummet.

The Coupa Software deal follows similar Thoma Bravo deals involving tech companies, including supply chain scenario planning platform, Anaplan.

Market and societal turbulence might have driven down Coupa’s stock, but it has also made the company’s market-leading procure-to-pay (P2P) offering hugely attractive to businesses.

P2P systems enable the integration of purchasing and accounts payable departments within businesses. The process involves supply management, requisition, purchase orders, invoice reconciliation and accounts payable.

With so much volatility in today’s world, procurement professionals have taken on an added importance compared to their standing in pre-pandemic times. 

P2P platforms help deliver competitive advantage

No longer are chief procurement officers (CPOs) mere cost-control executives, they are well-positioned as leaders with in-depth knowledge of supply chain resilience, risk management, spend optimisation, supplier relationships – areas that also feed into an organisation’s drive to be net zero.

In short, CPOs are now one of the likeliest C-suite execs to help a business achieve competitive advantage.  

Business leaders have an acute need for visibility and control when it comes to business spend, and solutions like Coupa’s centralise spend in a single place, giving the kind of overview that allows for actionable insights across areas including supply chain, sustainability and risk.

Coupa Software is a company whose strategies and impact has been covered widely down the years, both by Procurement Magazine and Supply Chain Magazine. 

About Coupa Software

Coupa Software has 1,693 staff, and is one of the leading providers of business spend management (BSM) solutions. The company is headquartered in California, with offices across Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific. Coupa is one of the most valuable procure to pay (P2P) platform specialists. Total revenues for Q4 2022 were $193.3mn, an increase of 18% on the year-ago figure. Subscription revenues were $173mn, an increase of 28% on the 2021 return.