Takeaways by Saasverse AI
- Thoma Bravo | Acquisition | $2 Billion | AI Customer Service Automation Software.
- Led by Thoma Bravo, Verint shareholders will receive $20.50 per share in cash, representing a 4.2% premium over its prior closing price.
- The deal strengthens Thoma Bravo’s AI portfolio and will integrate Verint with Calabrio, enhancing customer service automation and performance measurement.
Thoma Bravo, the private equity powerhouse, has announced its acquisition of AI-driven customer service automation software provider Verint Systems Inc. for $2 billion, including debt. Verint shareholders are set to receive $20.50 per share in cash, reflecting a modest 4.2% premium over the company’s closing price prior to the announcement. The transaction is expected to close by the end of Verint’s fiscal year.
Verint, a significant player in the customer experience (CX) technology market, serves over 85% of Fortune 100 companies with its cloud-based solutions. The company’s platform is designed to streamline customer service operations, leveraging AI to automate responses to common queries, identify sales opportunities, and provide real-time guidance to support agents. Additionally, Verint’s workforce management tools help companies optimize staffing, while its AI-powered analytics deliver insights from customer interactions to improve service quality and efficiency.
Verint has consistently demonstrated its ability to innovate in the AI space, acquiring four AI-focused companies, including Cogito and Fonolo, in 2024 to deepen its expertise in CX automation. Earlier this year, the company secured a $11 million contract with a major banking client to deploy its AI-driven Agent Copilot Bot. This system, which supports 6,500 customer service representatives and handles approximately 400 million minutes of customer calls annually, is projected to save the bank tens of millions of dollars each year.
Financially, Verint has shown resilience. In the first quarter of its fiscal year ending April 30, 2026, the company outperformed Wall Street expectations with an adjusted earnings per share of $0.29 and $208 million in revenue. Its subscription-based software business saw annual recurring revenue (ARR) climb by 6.3% year-over-year to $710 million, while AI-related ARR surged 24% to $354 million, now representing half of its total ARR. Verint has maintained its full-year revenue guidance at $960 million, with projected earnings per share of $2.93.
Post-acquisition, Thoma Bravo plans to merge Verint with Calabrio Inc., a customer service performance management provider it acquired in 2021. This strategic integration aims to create a comprehensive ecosystem for customer service automation, combining Verint’s AI-driven capabilities with Calabrio’s performance evaluation tools. Notably, this move follows Thoma Bravo’s $12.1 billion acquisition of HR tech firm Dayforce just last week, signaling the firm’s aggressive strategy to dominate the intersection of AI and enterprise software.
Saasverse Insights
Thoma Bravo’s acquisition of Verint underscores the growing importance of AI in transforming customer service operations. By integrating Verint’s advanced automation solutions with Calabrio’s performance management tools, the private equity firm is well-positioned to deliver end-to-end CX solutions that cater to the evolving needs of enterprise clients. With AI-related ARR already accounting for half of Verint’s revenue, this deal highlights how enterprises are increasingly prioritizing intelligent automation to drive efficiency and cost savings.
Looking ahead, this acquisition could serve as a catalyst for further consolidation in the customer service technology market as competitors race to build integrated, AI-enabled ecosystems. The rapid adoption of generative AI and conversational AI technologies will likely amplify demand for scalable, automated CX solutions, presenting significant opportunities for innovation and growth in the SaaS and AI sectors. For Verint, the backing of Thoma Bravo and the synergistic integration with Calabrio could unlock new growth avenues, solidifying its position as a leader in AI-powered customer service automation.