Blue Prism

Blue Prism Group plc
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustrySoftware
Founded26 July 2001 (2001-07-26)
Founders
  • David Moss
  • Alastair Bathgate
Headquarters
Warrington, UK
ProductsRPA tools
Automation tools
Revenue £141.4 million (2020)[1]
Number of employees
1,005 (2020)[1]
ParentSS&C Technologies
Websitewww.blueprism.com

Blue Prism, officially Blue Prism Group plc, is a British multinational software corporation that makes enterprise robotic process automation (RPA) software. In March 2022, Blue Prism was acquired by SS&C Technologies.[2] It is headquartered in Warrington, UK.[3][4] The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market until its acquisition.[5]

History

Blue Prism was founded in 2001 by Alastair Bathgate and David Moss.[6] The company's focus was back office robotic process automation, or RPA.[7] The company launched its first commercial product, Automate, in 2003.

On 18 March 2016, Blue Prism undertook an IPO when the company floated on the London Stock Exchange AIM market with a market capitalisation of £48.5 million.[5][8] The company's shares rose 44 percent on the first day of trading on AIM, under CEO Alastair Bathgate.[9] By November 2016, it had offices in Chicago and Miami, as well as the United Kingdom.[10]

On 6 January 2017 Blue Prism announced it would open new offices in Austin, Texas, while remaining based in London. At the time, it employed 86 people worldwide.[11] In March 2017, a group of shareholders sold stakes in Blue Prism.[12]

In 2019, Blue Prism announced changes to its platform and the issuing of new stock. It included a new AI engine, an updated marketplace for extensions, and a new lab for in-house AI innovation.[13] In the summer of 2019, Blue Prism acquired Thoughtonomy for $100 million.[14]

As of April 2020, the leadership team is made up of chairman and CEO Jason Kingdon and co-founder and CTO David Moss.[8][15] Kingdon, an early investor in the company, became chairman in 2008 and led the company until its successful IPO in 2016. Kingdon returned as chairman in 2019[16][17] and became CEO in April 2020 when former CEO Alastair Bathgate stepped down,[15] Kingdon remained CEO until 2022.

In September 2021, it was announced that Vista Equity Partners would acquire Blue Prism for £1.095 billion ($1.5 billion) with the intention to merge it into TIBCO Software.[18][19] However, a bidding war between SS&C and Vista Equity ensued.[20] Shareholders ultimately voted in favor of SS&C. On 16 March 2022 SS&C Technologies announced it had completed its acquisition of Blue Prism for approximately $1.6 billion (£1.25 billion).[21][22]

References

  1. ^ a b "Blue Prism : Annual Report" (PDF). blueprism.com. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  2. ^ "SS&C Completes Acquisition of Blue Prism Group PLC". investor.ssctech.com. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  3. ^ Howard, Tom (22 November 2019). "Relieved shareholders see Blue Prism Group in new light". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  4. ^ Companies House (n.d.), Blue Prism Group PLC, retrieved 27 January 2020
  5. ^ a b "Blue Prism to issue $130M in stock to raise new funds". TechCrunch. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Blue Prism is raising $130M to fuel new technologies". Built In Austin. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Blue Prism looks to partners to expand robotic process automation with AI". TechCrunch. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Commercialising RPA - Blue Prism Chairman on "a technology that got invented in the UK - and no-one even noticed"". diginomica. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  9. ^ Burgess, Kate (20 March 2016). "Blue Prism rides the robot wave". Financial Times. United Kingdom. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  10. ^ Bounds, Andy; Tighe, Chris (23 November 2016). "What businesses want from the Autumn Statement". Financial Times. United Kingdom. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  11. ^ Theis, Michael (9 January 2017). "Two more British tech sector firms open Austin offices". Austin Business Journal. Austin, Texas, United States. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  12. ^ Frost, Richard (24 March 2017). "Growth fund sells Blue Prism stake". Insider Media. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  13. ^ "Blue Prism to issue $130M in stock to raise new funds". TechCrunch. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Blue Prism acquires UK's Thoughtonomy for up to $100M to expand its RPA platform with more AI". TechCrunch. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Blue Prism To Raise GBP100 Million Via Placing; CEO Bathgate To Depart". No. 2020–04–20. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  16. ^ "News & Tips: Reckitt Benckiser, Whitbread, Just Eat & more". Investors Chronicle. 22 October 2019.
  17. ^ "Blue Prism Rehires Jason Kingdon As Executive Chair Amid Growth". MorningstarUK. 22 October 2019. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  18. ^ "RPA industry consolidation continues with sale of Blue Prism to Vista for £1.095B". Tech Crunch. 28 September 2021.
  19. ^ Bradshaw, Tim (28 September 2021). "Blue Prism agrees £1.1bn takeover by Vista". Financial Times. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  20. ^ "Software firm Blue Prism edges closer to London delisting after US takeover". UK Tech News. 22 February 2022.
  21. ^ "SS&C Completes Acquisition of Blue Prism Group PLC". 16 March 2022.
  22. ^ Vaslie, Zachary (16 March 2022). "SS&C completes $1.6B Blue Prism acquisition". Hartford Business Journal.
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