Kofax Acquires E-Sign Vendor Softpro for Nearly $35 Million

Kofax, a maker of imaging and business process management software, is acquiring Softpro, a provider of fraud prevention and electronic signature software based in Boeblingen, Germany, for $34.7 million in cash.

Kofax paid $31.2 million at the closing of the transaction on September 1 and will pay the remaining in batches: $1.1 million 90 days after closing, $1.2 million one year from closing and $1.2 million two years from closing, according to a press release. The merger is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.

The merger will help make electronic signatures more accessible for tablet and touchscreen computer users, Kofax claimed in the release.

"Softpro has established itself as a trusted solution provider with many of the world's largest banks - including Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and others," Reynolds C. Bish, chief executive officer of Kofax, said in the release. "Its software offers enhanced capabilities to Kofax customers who want to embed it within their smart process applications."

Softpro's e-signature software SignDoc, which currently processes over 200 million e-signatures annually, offers click-to-sign and physical signature capture via mobile and other devices; and signature verification and fraud detection on premise or through cloud deployments. The company also sells image capture analytics and mobile capture for mortgages capabilities.

Softpro has approximately 80 employees, most of whom are in Western Europe and the U.S., and at yearend 2013 reported annual revenues of $13.3 million, of which 38% is from software licenses and 50% from maintenance services, according to the release. Softpro's principal shareholders Heinz Reschke, founder and chief executive officer, and head of sales Peter Reschke, as well as all other Softpro employees will remain with the company at least for the immediate future.

B. Riley & Co., LLC acted as Kofax's financial advisor for this transaction.