SoftwareOne confirms closing date for Crayon acquisition as executive team set

Exec team includes a mix of veterans and new faces

S SoftwareOne has confirmed that its long-anticipated acquisition of Crayon will close on or around 2 July 2025, following the satisfaction of all closing conditions, including regulatory and listing approvals.

The Swiss-HQ global software and cloud solutions provider also announced the leadership structure of the combined business, with current SoftwareOne CEO Raphael Erb and Crayon CEO Melissa Mulholland set to serve as co-CEOs.

As per the terms of the deal, Crayon shareholders who accepted the offer will receive NOK 69 in cash and 0.8233 newly issued SoftwareOne shares per Crayon share.

These shares are expected to begin trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange on or around 2 July 2025, with a secondary listing on Euronext Oslo Børs scheduled for the following day.

SoftwareOne also confirmed its intention to pursue a compulsory acquisition of the remaining Crayon shares and subsequently delist Crayon from the exchange.

The company said that Mulholland, who joined Crayon in 2020 from Microsoft, will lead strategy, GTM enablement, vendor alliances and global functions including finance, HR and legal, while Erb will oversee regional operations, services and the marketplace.

The executive board of the combined group will also include long-standing SoftwareOne leaders Oliver Berchtold (COO) and Julia Braun (CHRO), along with newly appointed CFO Hanspeter Schraner, who joined the firm on 1 June 2025.

The latest announcement comes as SoftwareOne continues to grapple with uneven regional performance.

In February, the firm reported FY24 revenues of CHF 1.017bn, a 2.9 per cent year-on-year increase in constant currency.

While APAC was a bright spot with nearly 16 per cent growth, EMEA revenues declined slightly, dragged down by a 1.1 per cent dip in the rest of EMEA and execution challenges in the UK.

Adjusted EBITDA dropped 7.6 per cent to CHF 223.4m, with SoftwareOne citing macroeconomic headwinds and a muted Q4 budget flush across key markets, including DACH.

The company’s cloud services unit rose 7.3 per cent year-on-year, offsetting a slight decline in its Microsoft-centric marketplace segment.

Speaking in February, Erb said the business had sharpened its focus on key priorities laid out the previous November, as it looked to stabilise performance and prepare for integration with Crayon.