WSO2, an organization that gives API administration and identification and entry administration (IAM) companies for enterprises, has been acquired by Swedish funding large EQT.

Phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed, however For Millionaires has realized through sources that the deal values WSO2 at “greater than” $600 million, with EQT attaining a “vital majority” stake for the worth.

WSO2’s merchandise embody an open supply API manager, corresponding to one thing like Google’s Apigee, which companies use for constructing and integrating all their digital companies, both within the cloud or on-premises. The corporate affords tangential companies akin to API administration particularly for Kubernetes, in addition to its flagship Identity Server — slightly one thing like Okta — that corporations use for managing identification and entry performance of their apps, akin to single sign-on (SSO).

WSO2, which was based out of Sri Lanka in 2005, had raised round $130 million in funding from the likes of Intel, Cisco and Goldman Sachs, with its most up-to-date tranche coming via a $93 million Series E round in 2022. An official valuation was by no means introduced, however articles from some retailers on the time reported a valuation of greater than $600 million. So that may imply WSO2 has remained considerably stagnant, although the “greater than” aspect right here might disguise some motion within the firm’s valuation.

A powerful monitor file

WSO2 co-founder and CEO Sanjiva Weerawarana has a robust monitor file within the open supply sphere, significantly amongst Apache Software program Basis initiatives, and he was one of many major designers of the cloud-native Ballerina programming language. Since 2017, Weerawarana additionally drives for Uber, which he says is designed to “problem the norm” and make it extra socially acceptable in his native Sri Lanka.

WSO2 is a reasonably well-distributed firm, in step with the ethos of different companies based round open supply. Whereas the corporate counts a U.S. HQ in Santa Clara, and plenty of of its senior management staff are unfold throughout the U.S., its heart of gravity lies in Sri Lanka the place a lot of its workforce is positioned — together with Weerawarana, who’s primarily based within the capital Colombo.

With that in thoughts, it’s value noting that the acquisition was really made by an EQT subsidiary known as EQT Personal Capital Asia, previously generally known as Baring Personal Fairness Asia, which EQT procured in 2022 for €6.8 billion to function its personal fairness car for Asia.

With a worldwide unfold of consumers that embody AT&T, Honda and Axa, that is one thing that EQT Personal Capital Asia companion Hari Gopalakrishnan says was a key a part of its determination to speculate. Furthermore, with cloud computing and AI driving demand for safety infrastructure, WSO2 was a very interesting proposition for an funding agency with latest kind within the enterprise software program area.

“Software program is a key focus sector for EQT, and WSO2 is a robust firm that has scaled globally with an enterprise buyer base unfold throughout the US and Europe,” Gopalakrishnan mentioned in a statement. “[We] consider that the corporate is well-positioned to capitalize on long-term traits akin to digital transformation and rising GenAI adoption.”

EQT say that it expects the acquisition to shut within the second half of 2024.