Progress Software To Acquire DevOps Company Chef In $220 Million Deal

Progress Software has struck a deal to acquire DevOps technology pioneer Chef Software for $220 million in cash, Progress said Tuesday.

Progress, a provider of application development and digital experience software, said the acquisition will expand the company’s technology portfolio and allow it to offer “complete infrastructure automation to build, deploy, manage and secure applications” in modern multi-cloud, hybrid and on-premises environments.

“Chef is a market leader with best-in-class products, a vibrant developer community, an impressive blue-chip customer base, and highly skilled and engaged employees,” said Yogesh Gupta, Progress CEO, in a statement. “Chef has built a successful business, product portfolio and go-to-market strategy and we will expand and accelerate that by bringing our resources to bear, building on the momentum Chef has established to date.”

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Chef, based in Seattle, is a leader in the DevOps and, more recently, DevSecOps areas. Founded in 2008, the company has more than $70 million in annual recurring revenue, Progress said.

Chef got its start with its infrastructure-as-code technology and has broadened its development technology offerings to include infrastructure, security and compliance tools, as well as infrastructure configuration management and application lifecycle management. Today the company’s product portfolio includes Chef Enterprise Automation Stack, Chef Infra, Chef Compliance, Chef InSpec and Chef Desktop.

Progress markets software to develop, deploy and manage business applications and the Chef acquisition “will enhance that position by providing industry-leading compliance and application automation products for multi-cloud and on-prem infrastructure,” Progress said.

In addition to bolstering its core product offerings, Progress said the acquisition “also aligns with Progress‘ growth strategy through accretive acquisitions and will add both scale and cash flow.”

Progress said it expects to close the acquisition in October 2020, subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. It is funding the acquisition with existing cash on hand and funds raised under its existing credit facility.

“This acquisition perfectly aligns with our growth strategy and meets the requirements that we’ve previously laid out: a strong recurring revenue model, technology that complements our business, a loyal customer base and the ability to leverage our operating model and infrastructure to run the business more efficiently,” Gupta said in the statement. “We’re thrilled to add Chef to our product portfolio and are confident that this acquisition will provide benefit to both organizations, as well as our customers, partners, investors and the Chef community.”

“Chef and Progress share a vision for the future of DevSecOps and Progress will provide the scale to further drive Chef’s platform forward and deliver additional value to our customers,” said Barry Crist, Chef CEO, in the statement. “At the same time, Chef fills a need in the Progress portfolio in DevSecOps, infrastructure, application, and compliance automation that is highly complementary to its existing products.”

“For Chef, this acquisition is our next chapter, and Progress will help enhance our growth potential, support our Open Source vision, and provide broader opportunities for our customers, partners, employees and community,” Crist said

The Dice 2020 Tech Salary Report listed Chef as one of the most in-demand technical skills this year and one of the highest paying.

In February Chef launched its first partner program for resellers and service providers that specialize in automating enterprise IT operations.