House of Control acquires DinERP

The best CFO tool kit will get even better

After 15 years of strong organic growth, the Nordic region’s leading company in commercial value management is making its first acquisition. With DinERP joining the team, House of Control strengthens technology development and prepares for European expansion. In 2020, the new company will have NOK 130 million in annual recurring revenues (ARR).

House of Control has annual license revenues of NOK 110 million from the SaaS solution Complete Control. Here, users register their contracts, assets and liabilities – a need that increases with the scope of outsourcing and the number of subcontractors. The product has hit a nerve in the market, and the company has had a strong growth over several years in a niche they have largely defined and had for themselves.

– After 15 years of strong and purely organic growth, we are now making our first acquisition. In the next few years, we will make more transactions to strengthen the company. This is part of a new and ambitious strategy for expansion in existing and new markets. NOK 130 million in ARR makes us one of the largest SaaS companies in the Nordic region. Now, our ambition is to grow just as strongly in Europe, says CEO Lasse Sten of House of Control (picture above).

Two companies, one target group: the CFO

DinERP develops software that simplifies and improves companies’ use of the global ERP system IFS. It includes solutions for e-commerce, invoice management and – not to say the least – apps used by employees outside the finance department where the work tasks create transactions in the ERP system. The company has a turnover of more than NOK 30 million, with the main emphasis on recurring subscription revenues.

– The CFO is the most important target group for both companies, with products that connects the business activities to the enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The most obvious synergy effects will come from the combination of greater financial strength as well as more rapid technology development and commercialization, says Sten.

Lars Morten Nygaard, CEO of DinERP, says that this is a transaction that has matured over a period of time:

– Both companies have Viking Venture as large owners. In their unique ownership environment we have become increasingly convinced that we will both succeed faster and better by merging the two teams, says Nygaard.

Significant added value for customers and owners

Erik Fjellvær Hagen, Chairman of the Board of House of Control, who is also managing partner in Viking Venture, has high expectations of the new company:

– The world’s finance departments are in the middle of extensive digitalization, driven by demands for efficiency as well as better performance. This trend opens a promising market for tools that support and expand the value a business gets from using the ERP system. The potential is exemplified by House of Control having its strongest growth ever in June, in the midst of the Covid19 pandemic.

– DinERP and House of Control will be an organization that is excellently positioned to gain ground in the market. The product range is expanded and the pace of innovation gets a new gear. When this is combined with the organization’s “track record” in commercialization, we are confident that the new company will create significantly greater value for customers and owners – in both existing and new markets, says Fjellvær Hagen.

The transaction is carried out by the shareholders in DinERP receiving settlement in shares in House of Control.