Flexera strengthens itself by acquiring NetApp's cloud software business

NetApp has decided to sell part of its cloud software assets to Flexera, supported by the financial investor Thoma Bravo. Flexera is acquiring the Spot by NetApp FinOps business, as stated in a recent announcement. Although the financial details of the negotiations remain confidential, industry experts estimate the transaction value at around 100 million USD. This acquisition includes, among other things, business segments from NetApp's acquisitions of the start-ups Spot and CloudCheckr. Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Flexera, commented positively on the acquisition: "The combination of Flexera and Spot strengthens our ability to address the challenges in hybrid cloud cost and usage optimization across public cloud services, data centers, SaaS applications, containers, and even AI." The sale takes place against the backdrop of an increasing trend among companies in various industries to divest assets to focus on their core activities. Worldwide sales in this area increased by 26% in 2024, reaching a volume of 555 billion USD. Spot and CloudCheckr offer tools for software developers to monitor the costs of various cloud services. NetApp acquired Spot in 2020 and CloudCheckr in 2021; the purchase price of Spot was estimated at 450 million USD at the time. NetApp's stock has increased by 35% over the last year and recently closed 1.5% higher at 116.69 USD in New York, bringing the company's value to around 24 billion USD. Since 2020, Thoma Bravo has held the majority shares in Flexera, while TA Associates and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board also hold interests.