Saba Software Announces Agreement to Acquire Lumesse, Accelerating Its Global Leadership in Talent Development

DUBLIN, California and LUTON, England, October 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Market leaders join forces to create a talent development powerhouse; offer unrivaled breadth, depth and scale to customers worldwide 

Saba Software Inc., a global leader in talent development solutions, and a portfolio company of Vector Capital, today announced that the Company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Lumesse, a leading provider of talent acquisition, talent management and learning experience technology in Europe.

The addition of Lumesse to the Saba family brings together iconic global talent leaders and unparalleled expertise across talent acquisition, talent development, and talent management to deliver an unprecedented "best in suite" talent experience to organizations around the world.

"Today, organizations of all sizes, across the globe are demanding modern experiences in talent development and talent acquisition for their businesses and for their employees. To address that demand, unified HCM solutions have been emerging at a rapid pace, but falling short on both user experience and depth of capabilities," said Phil Saunders, President and CEO of Saba. "The addition of Lumesse's talent technology and expertise will enable us to fill a critical and unmet market need, extend and accelerate the delivery of a 'best in suite' talent experience more rapidly across the globe, and create more value for our customers, faster."

Saba and Lumesse bring 60 years of combined talent management expertise to serve more than 4,700 customers globally. The combination of Saba's strength in talent development and Lumesse's expansive capabilities across talent acquisition, talent management, mobile learning experiences and content curation is expected to provide an unmatched talent experience to joint customers, and accelerate innovation on a global scale.

"Over that past 20 years, we have built Lumesse into a market leader in talent management and talent acquisition, including talent acquisition technology and consultancy for the RPO industry," said Didier Bench, Executive Chairman of Lumesse. "Joining forces with Saba gives us the opportunity to deliver that expertise to customers in new ways, in new markets, while working together to innovate even faster, and make an even bigger impact in the market, and around the world."

"Saba and Lumesse together remain committed to ensuring the highest levels of support, product innovation, and value for our customers," said Karen Williams, EVP Product Strategy and Customer Success. "Going forward, Saba and Lumesse management teams will work together to not only provide our global customers with more innovation, but an enhanced local support and enablement experience that ensures their success, and helps them deliver even more value to their organizations."

News Facts 

• Saba, a portfolio company of Vector Capital, to acquire Lumesse, extending Saba's global leadership position in HCM.
• The combination brings together unmatched capabilities in performance, learning, talent management and talent acquisition.
• The joint entity's increased size and scale, and its extended suite of talent tools will open up new market opportunities and accelerate rapid innovation, creating a global powerhouse in talent management.
• The acquisition will fast-track Saba's European growth strategy with enhanced local support and expertise, by leveraging Lumesse's expansive customer base, highly qualified in-region personnel and regional public and private cloud expertise.
• Lumesse's strength in mobile learning, learning content curation and bespoke content expertise is an ideal complement to Saba's powerful learning platform, and its growing success with its existing content partnerships.
• The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018.

About Saba 

At Saba, we know that the success of any business starts with its people. We also know that people need a different kind of environment to bring their best to work every day. So we created that environment - one that's built on strategy, aligned to goals and designed for humans. An environment where people and teams are in the driver's seat of their own experience. Where development is part of their day, every day. And where deep performance insight connects people to business success. Thousands of customers worldwide, in virtually every industry, count on Saba to engage their people, connect their teams, and get the critical insight they need to prove the impact of talent on business success. For more information, visit http://www.saba.com.

About Lumesse 

Lumesse provides talent solutions to hundreds of organizations in over 70 countries, enabling them to engage and nurture the best talent in an ever-changing and demanding global environment. With its unique and highly adaptable talent solutions, Lumesse's customers are well prepared to capitalize on the fast evolution of new technologies and disruptive business conditions, while meeting all business needs locally and globally. For more information visit http://www.lumesse.com

About Vector Capital 

Vector Capital is a leading global private equity firm specializing in transformational investments in established technology businesses. With $4 billion of capital under management, Vector identifies and pursues these investments in both the private and public markets. Vector actively partners with management teams to devise and execute new financial and business strategies that materially improve the competitive standing of these businesses and enhance their value for employees, customers, and shareholders. For more information, visit http://www.vectorcapital.com.

Media Contacts 

Connie Costigan
Vice President, Communications
Saba Software
ccostigan@saba.com
+1-613-853-2367

Matt Cockett
SVP Group Solutions and Operations
Lumesse
matt.cockett@lumesse.com
+44-(0)-771-100-6929