carlProlific London has been doing a deep dive into Forterro, a U.K based company that specialises in selling Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and operates under the Partners Group spearheaded by CEO Dave Layton. Forterro came into existence in 2012, and they have a wide range of software brands under their banner, serving over 13,000 customers their software is tailored for various manufacturing sub-sectors in the industrial mid-market.
Forterro doesn’t just have one single ERP software sytem. Ingeniously Forterro does things a little differently by operaterating multiple ERP systems through its acquired companies, each serving different industries and business needs.
What Is An ERP System
So to explain exactly what Forterro do, an understanding of how an ERP system operates is quite helpful. Essentially when running a business that involves managing various operations such as sales, inventory, customer orders, finances, production schedules, and more. Without an ERP system, each of these areas would likely require its own software or tracking method.
An ERP system functions like a central nervous system for a business. It serves as a software platform that enables you to oversee and optimise all these different aspects of your business within a single framework (basically it puts everything under one umbrella). So rather than relying on separate systems for accounting, inventory management, customer relations, and other functions, an ERP system consolidates these operations into one neat little package.
This integration facilitates smoother coordination and efficiency across business processes and makes day-to-day operations run much smoother. For a more detailed look at ERP systems and what they are all about, take a look here as Oracle has provided a comprehensive breakdown of what these systems and how they operate.
Billion Euro Deal With Partners Group
In early 2022, Partners Group acquired Forterro in an eye-watering €1 billion deal. This investment was a significant step forward operationally and has helped boost Forterros 3.0′ strategy. This strategy is aimed at pushing a newer and more up-to-date subscription-based, and cloud-ready software provider with expanded capabilities for industrial markets.
Former Owner Battery Ventures also reinvested a large amount of capital after the sale in Forterro, so the heart of the previous company was still a key player after the sale to the Partners Group. This is a positive step for all partners involved as the old administration receives more funding and still gets to be part of the project and the buyer (Partners Group) has the benefit of retaining the expertise of people who already understand how Forterro operates and can use that knowledge to help develop the business further and make it more profitable.
Current Projects
Now Forterro and the Partners group are currently focusing on their continued expansion across Europe. In November 2023 they strengthened their foothold in the French Market by acquiring Abas Business Solutions. This acquisition allowed them to reach a further 220 customers who were already under the Abas umbrella before the deal was struck and also allowed them to finally enter the Spanish market.
Forterro is now taking steps to enter the Dutch market and grow even further. With the backing of the Partners Group at the time of writing future success and continued expansion seem inevitable.
