20 Nov 2019 Medius acquires Wax Digital
The news today that Medius have acquired Wax digital opens a very interesting new chapter in the P2P saga. In essence it’s a merger of two highly complimentary players: the P2 player, Wax digital and the 2P player Medius. Hardly ground breaking to have another true P2P competitor on the landscape but it is significant in that it further confirms the important synergy between procurement and finance that P2P pros have known for years but few (very few) of the technology vendors have really taken to their hearts. Most are P2 players with a bit of 2P or vice versa.
Outside of the Nordics, the strength and importance of P2P and P2P solutions there is little known. There are a number of strong solution providers based in Sweden. Basware of course is Finnish as is Opus Capita, IFS is Swedish and the founders of Tradeshift hail from Denmark. These are not small players and they play a huge role in their home markets and further afield. So when Medius makes a move like this there is very good reason to pay attention.
The press release announcing the merger claims that the combined company will “allow current and future customers to generate increased automation, visibility and control across the entire purchasing process.”
It goes on: “Both companies bring extensive experience and expertise in their respective areas, with native solutions built-out for the cloud with state-of-the-art technology, and easy, plug-and-play integrations into a range of ERP solutions. Together, Medius and Wax Digital will provide both purchasing and finance functions a unified solution for complete control of costs, cash and compliance.”
“The decision to join forces with Wax underscores Medius’ commitment to supporting our customers’ eProcurement needs,” said Per Åkerberg, CEO of Medius. “We firmly believe Wax strengthens our product capabilities and provides a unique suite of solutions to continue to accelerate our growth globally.”
Jason Busch adds some M&A expert insight: “The Medius and Wax Digital combination is prescient on a number of levels. Both organizations share similar high rates of customer satisfaction, are driving compatible strategies on Microsoft’s technology stack and bring a diverse set of product and commercial synergies. Perhaps most important, together they present a more holistic application footprint for procurement and finance organizations than many better known peers,”
My instinct says we’ll see more of this – the P2 and 2P vendors enhancing their respective weaker ends and we’ll see their customers demand it too as they increasingly take a more holistic approach to Purchase to Pay.
We’ve been talking about it for over a decade. Now it’s time to put the wise words into action.
