Jamf’s $2.2 Billion Sale Could Pave Way For Acquisitions

‘Since Jamf’s founding more than 20 years ago, we have made significant strides in advancing our mission to help organizations succeed with Apple,’ CEO John Strosahl says.

Apple device management vendor Jamf is on its way to leaving the stock market and becoming a private company under a deal to sell to Francisco Partners for $2.2 billion, a deal set to close in the first quarter of 2026.

The Minneapolis-based vendor plans to keep its name and headquarters city as part of the deal. In a statement, Jamf CEO John Strosahl said the sale and transitioning into a private company allows for “greater financial flexibility and strategic alignment to accelerate growth, expand through innovation and M&A, and strengthen our market leadership.”

“Since Jamf’s founding more than 20 years ago, we have made significant strides in advancing our mission to help organizations succeed with Apple,” Strosahl said.

Jamf Sale To Francisco Partners

CRN has reached out to the vendor for comment. Jamf is part of CRN’s 2025 Partner Program Guide.

On Nov. 10, the company will just issue a statement on the results of the third quarter of its 2025 fiscal year instead of holding an earnings call.

Jamf’s board of directors has approved the deal, according to the vendor. Vista Equity Partners has agreed to share its 34 percent of Jamf outstanding common stock shares. Board member and former Jamf CEO Dean Hager has agreed to sell his 1.1 percent of outstanding common stock shares, and Strosahl has agreed to sell his .2 percent.

The company said on Wednesday to expect its results “to exceed the high end of the guidance ranges previously issued,” which include total revenue between $176 million and $178 million and operating income between $41.5 million and $42.5 million not using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The midpoint of that revenue spread represents an 11 percent growth year on year.

Jamf will sell to San Francisco-based Francisco Partners for $13.05 per share in cash. The price represents a 50 percent premium over Jamf’s volume weighted average closing share price for the 90 days prior to Sept. 11, before acquisition rumors emerged.

The price also represents a 16 percent premium over Tuesday’s closing Jamf stock price, William Blair pointed out in a report Wednesday. The transaction price is 2.7 times the investment firm’s 2026 revenue multiple and 10.9 times its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) estimate.

Jamf has faced stiff competition from the likes of Microsoft and Zscaler plus “liquidity overhand” from Vista’s ownership, according to William Blair. The vendor also faced disruption in the device market and in the education device sector that it serves. The economy becoming more normal could help Jamf reaccelerate growth.

The take-private timing makes sense because Jamf didn’t receive credit from some investors for improving execution and expanding margin profile, according to William Blair. As a private company, Jamf can build out its security business organically or even through acquisitions. Jamf also recently completed an enterprise resource planning (ERP) transition that should help further expand the margin profile.

Francisco Partners doesn’t appear to have portfolio companies whose business overlaps with Jamf technology, according to William Blair. The firm also said that antitrust concerns are limited given steep competition in device management and security, meaning the deal will likely get regulatory approval.

Francisco Partners has invested in more than 500 technology companies over 25 years and has raised more than $50 billion in capital to date. Current investments include multiple companies mentioned in CRN’s 2025 Channel Chiefs such as Sumo Logic, SonicWall, New Relic, Forcepoint, LastPass, GoTo, BeyondTrust and Boomi.

Jamf’s stock jumped up about 16 percent after Jamf revealed its sale and was trading at about $13 a share Thursday morning Pacific time.

Jamf’s Channel Focus

Jamf went public in 2020, raising about $320 million and trading at about $40 a share against a pricing of $26.

The vendor last reported earnings in August, with executives revealing that the company saw $176.5 million in total revenue during the three months ended June 30. That is up about 13 percent year on year.

Most of the revenue came from subscriptions, coming in at $172.7 million, up about 14 percent year on year. The vendor exceeded total annual recurring revenue of $700 million for the first time, coming in at $710 million, up 14 percent year on year.

Jamf reported a net loss of $20.9 million for the quarter, about 8 percent worse year over year. Loss from operations was about $15 million, an improvement of about 25 percent year over year.

During the call with investors, Jamf’s CEO said that the vendor has been leaning more on channel partners, according to a call transcript. Strosahl included the channel as part of the company’s four key growth vectors alongside security, mobile and international.

He said Jamf had introduced a channel partner portal for deal registration and quoting self-service as part of its channel investment.

Strosahl said on the call that more than two-thirds of the business came in through its channel globally, with 80 percent of that coming from other countries “and increasing pretty rapidly” within the U.S.

“We believe we can get to those levels worldwide that we have internationally, and we’re continuing to do that to help leverage the growth, especially as it relates to some of our smaller customers or mid-market customers,” the CEO said on the call.