Visma

Visma

File:VISMA logo.png Visma business logo
Company type	Private (subsidiary of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts)
Industry	Computer software
Genre	Business software provider
Founded	Oslo, Norway (1996 (1996))
Headquarters	Oslo , Norway
Number of locations	Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Latvia
Area served	Europe
Key people	Øystein Moan, CEO
Products	Business software Business Process Outsourcing Retail IT IT consultancy
Revenue	NOK 7,100 million (2014)
Owner	KKR, HgCapital, Cinven, Visma Management
Number of employees	6,400 (2014)
Parent	Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
Divisions	Software SMB Software Government and Large Accounts Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)
Website	Visma.com

Visma is a provider of business software, outsourcing services, commerce solutions, retail IT solutions, and IT related development and consultancy. The company has 340,000 customers with the vast majority in Northern Europe. It has 6,400 employees and a net revenue amounted to NOK 7,100 million in 2014.

The company was formed in 1996, through the merging of the companies Multisoft, SpecTec and Dovre Information Systems. Today, the group comprises three divisions: Visma Software SMB, Visma Software Government and Large Accounts, and Visma BPO (Business Process Outsourcing).

Visma has approximately 100 offices (the majority of which are local accounting practices) throughout Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Lithuania, Romania and Latvia. In addition, the company has 1 100 resellers and distribution through partners in several European countries. The headquarter is located in Oslo, Norway.

Visma is owned by KKR, HgCapital, Cinven and the Visma management.

Business areas

Visma Software SMB The Software SMB division provides small and medium sized businesses with a complete range of efficient and easy to use business admin solutions for small businesses; including web based accounting and invoicing, CRM solutions, purchase pooling, web shops, email and hosting. The division’s customer promise is to provide its customers with the tools they need to solve admin and accounting related tasks efficiently and effortlessly. The Software SMB division is headed by Eivind Gundersen.

Visma Software GLA The Software GLA division Visma provides the public and non-profit sector with solutions for improving work processes, reducing superfluous bureaucracy, and simplifying collaboration. Visma has a special focus on supplying e-government solutions. To large enterprises, Visma provides turnkey solutions to streamline end-to-end admin processes within their business.

Visma BPO The BPO division provides companies of all sizes and industries with business process outsourcing services – primarily accounting, payroll and HR services. The division has close to 100 local offices. This allows them to offer both a local connection and big company benefits, such as modern technology, niche expertise and backup staff.

Øystein Moan (CEO)

Visma CEO, Øystein Moan (b. 1959), is an MSc Computer Science at the University of Oslo. Prior to Visma, Moan was the founder and Managing Director of Cinet AS. Since taking the reins as the CEO of the Visma Group in 1997, Moan has led the company to become one of the most innovative companies in the Nordic region. He has taken the company from 300 to 5,500 employees, and increased revenue from NOK 250 million to NOK 7,119 million (2014 figures).

Corporate history

1996 – The Visma Group has its first year of operations. Visma public on Oslo Stock Exchange. MultiSoft ASA, SpecTec ASA and Dovre Information Systems AS merge. Three key products: SpecTec (marine), Visma Logistics and Visma Business.

1997 – A turbulent year: Due to growth ambitions that exceeded the company's resources, the company experienced a financial crisis in the year's second quarter. The company had to be re-financed and re-structured, and most of the management and the Board of Directors were replaced. The turnaround: Øystein Moan joins as CEO, and a new strategy is put into action. The new board manages to raise MNOK 100 in new share-capital, but must lay off 1/3 of staff.

1998 – At the beginning of 1998, the company again emerged as a stable and strong enterprise, building the Visma Marine Division to a global leader within the fishing industry.

1999 – Visma establishes subsidiaries in Denmark and UK. The company makes its first step towards SaaS launching Visma Business e-commerce and starting work on developing web and WAP extensions of all the Visma applications.

2000 – The major event of 2000 was the sale of Visma Marine ASA’s operations to Dutch company Station12. Visma received a cash payment of MNOK 730. The considerable financial resources would be used to generate vigorous growth. New strategy: To offer both software and outsourcing within accounting, finance and payroll.

2001 – Visma acquires Spcs, the Swedish market leader within the small business segment. Later in the year, the company enters the Finnish market through the acquisition of Liinos.

2002 – With the Spcs developed software “Avendo”, Visma enters the Norwegian micro market. The BPO division enters the Danish market through the acquisition of Bogholderi & Administrasjon, and the acquisition of Møre Datasystemer sees Visma enter the public sector.

2003 – Visma enters major cooperation agreements with Norway's largest bank (DNB) and the national postal service.

2004 – Visma establishes an electronic data center in Oslo, which processed 2 million incoming invoices in 2005. The company also makes big strides in the public sector with debt collection and temp services added to the portfolio.

2005 – Steady growth – both organically and through eleven acquisition. Visma’s Management Trainee program is initiated.

2006-2008 – Visma enters the Dutch market through the acquisition of software company AccountView. A change of ownership sees British private equity firm HgCapital become the new majority owner. HgCapital de-lists Visma from the Oslo Stock Exchange.

2009 – The company’s Retail IT division is established, providing retail businesses with a complete setup – from hardware and implementation to consultancy and support. This is also the year Visma’s signature headquarter building in Skøyen, Oslo is completed ready to house 800 + of the company’s Norwegian staff. Visma reaches a landmark 10,000 SaaS users and becomes Finland’s second largest accounting firm.

2010 – Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts (KKR) acquires a 76.9% ownership in Visma. At the time, the transaction values Visma at an enterprise value of NOK 11 billion. Visma was KKR’s first investment in Norway. HgCapital, the previous majority owner of Visma, retained a significant minority ownership of 17.7% Management of Visma increased its ownership in the business to 5.3%. Earlier that year, Visma entered the IT consultancy market in Norway, Sweden and Denmark through the acquisition of Sirius IT .

2011 – In Norway, Visma acquires Mamut, its rival in the micro segment. Included in the acquisition is international web hosting company Active24.

2012 – Visma launches Visma.net - a world-leading SaaS solution for small and medium sized businesses. At launch, the suite includes ERP, CRM and Expense Management. Later this year, Visma introduces Net Promoter Score - a renowned customer satisfaction and nurturing program

2013 – Visma signs its biggest deal to date to develop admin and communication solution for Norwegian schools. Through the acquisition of the Duetto Group, Visma enters the Finnish debt collection market.

2014 – Visma widens its shareholder base to include Cinven and is valued at NOK 21 billion. The new owner structure becomes Cinven, HgCapital and KKR with 31.3 % ownership each, and the Visma management with 6% ownership.

Philosophy

Visma proudly refer to themselves as the “Efficiency Experts”. Their value proposition reads: “We provide our customers with a competitive advantage by automating and simplifying their business processes.” Visma’s mission must be seen in context with its location in Northern Europe. The Scandinavian countries along with Finland and the Netherlands are famous for being among the best places in the world to live – and they offer great conditions for entrepreneurs to start, run, and grow businesses.

Corruption is close to non-existent compared to other parts of the world. The education level of the population are among the highest in the world, and, as a consequence of work-life balance having such a strong standing in the region, North-Europeans are highly efficient during working hours. Additionally, risks attached to starting a business are mitigated by a generous and well-run social security system. The flipside, of course, is that these advantages come at a price. Taxes are high, as are the wages.

With low-cost countries now able to compete in terms of skills, Nordic businesses have their work cut out for them. They cannot compete on labor-cost. Hence, they need other means to boost productivity. This constitutes the backdrop for Visma’s raison d'être and mission; to provide their customers with solutions and services that enable them to be world leading in terms of efficiency.

Integration and automation of business processes - Through fully integrated solutions, Visma aim to diminish manual data entry and automate routine tasks, such as filing expense claims and managing accounts receivable and payable. This sets them up with a strong competitive advantage, as they are able to refocus resources to business development, customer care, and product development.

External links

• Company website