Infor lands $1.5 billion investment, prepares to go public by 2020

Business software vendor Infor today said it has landed a whopping $1.5 billion investment from current shareholders Koch Equity Development LLC (KED) and Golden Gate Capital, and will use the funds to prepare to take the company public in 2019 or 2020.

The investment builds on Koch's previous investment in the company, and will help move Infor closer to launching an initial public offering (IPO), Infor CEO Charles Phillips said in a release. "Koch and Golden Gate Capital have been phenomenal partners for Infor, and all of our 17,300 employees are excited about this milestone as we prepare for the next stage of growth," Phillips said.

Infor Announces $1.5 Billion Investment Ahead of Potential IPOhttps://t.co/MrzZSS1lEU#ensw

— Charles Phillips (@cpinfor) January 16, 2019

Infor offers cloud-based, enterprise software platforms for applications in supply chain, as well as financials, manufacturing, human resources, and customer relationships. For supply chain applications, those platforms include the "Coleman" artificial intelligence (AI) software product that is accessible through Amazon.com Inc.'s Alexa digital assistant and other interfaces, a "control center" artificial intelligence (AI)-based supply chain visibility platform, and a cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) analytics platform.

KED is the investment arm of Wichita, Kan.-based multinational consumer products giant Koch Industries Inc., a family-owned business which is closely held by billionaire siblings, and frequent conservative political donors, Charles and David Koch. The Koch business conglomerate was already an Infor client when it bought a portion of the company in 2017 for $2 billion, joining previous private equity investors Golden Gate Capital and Summit Partners.

Infor has recently been digging into its deep pockets to build the capabilities of that CloudSuite product line, investing $2.5 billion in product design and development over the last five years, the company said. According to Infor, that effort has generated more than 475 new products, 1,870 integrations, and 20,700 industry features.

The company has also been extending its supply chain software products by continuing to integrate its enterprise software with the capabilities of GT Nexus, the cloud-based commerce platform it acquired in 2015 for $675 million.