Koch Industries infuses $2 billion into Oracle and SAP's automation ventures
In a significant move, Koch Equity Development (KED) has invested $2 billion in enterprise software firm Infor, valuing the company at over $10 billion. This investment marks one of the largest investments KED has ever made.
Infor, under the leadership of CEO Charles Phillips since 2010, has been challenging the market-leading positions of competitors like Oracle and SAP with its cloud strategy. The company was the first to move mission-critical industry applications to the cloud and has been leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS) to enhance its offerings in cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions.
The investment from KED is expected to close in early 2017. Infor's cloud strategy, particularly through its Infor CloudSuite and strategic collaboration with AWS, has been a critical driver of its growth and strong market position. Key contributions to this growth include deep integration with AWS cloud and AI services, massive revenue growth via AWS Marketplace, and the migration of over 14,000 customers to Infor CloudSuite.
Embedding purpose-built generative AI powered by AWS technologies directly into industry workflows has further differentiated Infor's cloud solutions, addressing compliance, security, and specific business challenges in regulated sectors such as manufacturing and healthcare.
Following the investment, Infor's future plans focus on expanding this cloud and AI-driven innovation. This includes deepening and scaling the AWS partnership, continuing to build industry-specific cloud platforms with embedded AI, and leveraging the investment to boost innovation velocity and extend cloud capabilities.
Infor now has more than 66 million users of its cloud applications and 15,000 employees. The capital injection will provide Infor with additional growth funds for expansion and accelerated innovation in the enterprise applications space. Three years ago, only 5% of Infor's sales were from cloud products, but this increased to 50% in the last financial year.
Matt Flamini, KED's president, expressed confidence in Infor's technology, team, and business model by referring to the significant investment from KED. Infor's existing shareholders, including Golden Gate Capital, Summit Partners, and Management, will maintain control of the company.
Instead of building its own data centre infrastructure, Infor hosts its cloud applications with Amazon Web Services, making it AWS's largest partner after Netflix. KED is the investment and acquisition subsidiary of Koch Industries, an approximately $100 billion annual revenue company and the second largest privately-held company in the United States.
Infor has won recognition for its approach to cloud computing, a transformative industry trend. The company's cloud strategy, rooted in a tightly coupled partnership with AWS and a focus on industry-specific, AI-augmented ERP solutions, has powered dramatic revenue growth, expanded market presence, and positioned the company for accelerated innovation and market leadership following the Koch investment.
- The investment from Koch Equity Development (KED) will provide Infor with additional growth funds for expanding its cloud and AI-driven innovation, as the company continues to leverage Amazon Web Services (AWS) to enhance its offerings in cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions.
- Infor's future plans, driven by the significant investment from KED, focus on deepening and scaling the AWS partnership, continuing to build industry-specific cloud platforms with embedded AI, and leveraging the investment to boost innovation velocity and extend cloud capabilities, thereby positioning the company for accelerated innovation and market leadership.
