• Germany deal is springboard to east
• Target sweet spot up to USD 10m in revenue
• Would partner with PE for major purchase

Sidetrade [EPA:ALBFR], a French order-to-cash (O2C) software company, is seeking smaller targets in the US and Europe to follow its first acquisition in Germany, founder and CEO Olivier Novasque told Mergermarket.

Deals are more likely to occur in 2025 than this year, Novasque said, and will target companies with up to USD 10m (EUR 9.1m) in revenue in credit risk management, collections and dispute management, cash application, and B2B e-payment software segments.

Based in Boulogne-Billancourt, Sidetrade “needs one or two more acquisitions and to sustain a 15%-20% top-line growth rate and 15% net margin to achieve USD 100m” in annual recurring revenue by 2026, he said.

In the event of a major purchase – of a company with USD 100m or more in revenue, for example – Sidetrade would consider a partnership or take-private deal with private equity. “I prefer to control my own destiny and remain public, but if we have an opportunity to accelerate our growth by giving us more money to work with to make acquisitions, then why not? At this time, we are quite happy, but why close the door?” he said.

In September, French O2C software company Esker [EPA:ALESK] announced it had agreed with UK-based PE firm Bridgepoint and US-based growth equity firm General Atlantic to be taken private in a EUR 1.6bn deal.

Sidetrade is nearing the completion of a tender offer for Germany-based SHS Viveon AG, a credit risk-management software company, thus establishing a presence in that country. SHS Viveon generates EUR 8.3m in revenue and has offices in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Novasque said. The deal multiple was less than 1x the target’s next 12 months (NTM) revenue.

“I like their customers,” he said, naming among them BMW [ETR:BMW], Mercedes [ETR:MBG], Lufthansa [TER:LHA] and Bosch [NSE:BOSCHLTD]. The acquisition opens the door to further expansion eastward into the new markets of Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and beyond, he added.

After France, the US has become Sidetrade’s largest market, where it could seek additional acquisitions, he said. The company entered the US market with the April 2021 acquisition of Houston-based Amalto, an e-invoicing company, for USD 16m; and in July 2023, it agreed to acquire Tulsa, Oklahoma-based CreditPoint Software, which specialises in B2B credit risk-management services.

North America now accounts for 35% of Sidetrade’s global revenue discounting the SHS Viveon acquisition, up from 28% when Novasque last spoke with Mergermarket in 2023.

The O2C process encompasses all steps from when a customer order is placed until the business is paid. Founded in 2000, Sidetrade offers a SaaS platform to help medium-to-large business clients digitise order management, invoice processing, credit management and accounts receivable.

King & Spalding provides general legal services while ODDO BHF served as financial advisor for the SHS Viveon transaction.