Vertex president and CEO David DeStefano. Image: Vertex
Co-founder John McCarthy will join Vertex in a senior leadership role.
Philadelphia-headquartered Vertex has acquired Irish company Taxamo in an all-cash transaction valued at $200m.
The deal closed on Wednesday (12 May) ahead of Vertex’s quarterly earnings call, in which the company reported total revenues of $98.2m, up around 10pc from the previous year.
Vertex is a global provider of indirect tax software, including cloud-based and on-premise solutions. In the quarter ended 31 March 2021, its revenue from software subscriptions rose about 10pc to reach $83.3m.
Kerry-headquartered Taxamao offers cloud-based tax and payment automation for global e-commerce and marketplaces. These solutions will now be integrated into Vertex’s cloud portfolio, connecting to the US company’s global customer base.
Vertex has described the acquisition as a strategic move intended to lead to accretive revenue growth.
“We remain confident in the strength of our business model, and plan to continue investing in our sustainable, long-term growth as CFOs and CIOs around the world face increased business and regulatory complexity,” said Vertex CFO John Schwab of the company’s strong quarterly performance.
“We believe the investments we are making to accelerate go-to-market, expand our partnerships, deliver new products, and enable great customer experiences are adding positive momentum to our business.”
Taxamo, a former Siliconrepublic.com Start-up of the Week, came to the fore in 2015 as new EU VAT rules introduced that year drove increased uptake of its services.
Co-founder and CEO John McCarthy is the son of Fexco founder Brian McCarthy. His brother, Denis McCarthy, is currently CEO of the Irish fintech, which is also headquartered in Killorglin.
The Taxamo CEO will join Vertex in a senior leadership role overseeing the company’s global e-commerce and market place strategy.
“We are extremely proud of the company we’ve built over the past 10 years, and I am excited to join such a recognised, trusted leader in tax technology,” he said.
“Taxamo is based on a vision that as the global economy grows, more companies will need to pay more taxes in more countries. This causes challenges for both business and government, and it is these challenges that we have sought to understand and craft innovative solutions for. I’ve gotten to know the Vertex team well over many years, and their values and vision are extremely well aligned with the Taxamo culture and our commitment to customer excellence.”
Vertex president and CEO David DeStefano said the acquisition will support and accelerate Vertex’s growth strategies across e-commerce platforms and marketplaces in Europe and North America. “We also believe the addition of Taxamo opens up entirely new market opportunities as global marketplaces continue to expand, and tax complexity grows across the interconnected supply chain of logistics, shipping, customs and payment platforms,” he added.
Earlier this year, Vertex also acquired the assets of edge-computing start-up Tellutax, its first acquisition since going public in 2020.
The company is forecasting revenues up to $100m for its next quarter.
