A Texas company that’s part of the S&P 500 is buying one of Nashville’s fastest-growing private companies, in a deal that ranks among the largest tech acquisitions on record for the region.
Tyler Technologies Inc. (NYSE: TYL) is paying $84 million cash for Nashville-based VendEngine Inc., according to an announcement Tyler made on Thursday.
VendEngine creates software used at jails, detention centers and other correctional facilities in 32 states and five countries. That software handles electronic payments, emails and video calls for inmates, as well as helping officers manage work-release schedules, electronic health records, formal grievances filed by inmates and the on-site commissary.
VendEngine is the Nashville region’s sixth-fastest-growing company, according to Business Journal research: VendEngine posted 128% revenue growth from 2016 to 2019, hitting $73.1 million in that year and growing again in 2020. That pace also ranked VendEngine among the 300 fastest-growing tech companies in North America, according to Deloitte.
The price tag VendEngine fetched from Tyler Technologies points to the growing profile and value of the Nashville region’s tech sector, as companies such as Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) and NTT Data build downtown tech hubs and Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) embarks on construction of a $1.2 billion riverfront tech campus that will have as many as 8,500 jobs within a decade. VendEngine joins a roster of recent acquisitions involving companies such as Confirmation.com, Edgenet and others, all setting new local benchmarks.
Silas Deane founded VendEngine a decade ago and is its president and CEO today. Deane will remain with Tyler Technologies under the title of general manager, “supported by the current VendEngine leadership team,” according to Tyler’s press release.
VendEngine has eight members on its executive team, part of its 55-person local workforce. VendEngine will remain based in Nashville (the company’s offices are within Davidson County but have a Brentwood mailing address, at 1000 Health Park Drive). Tyler Technologies is headquartered in Plano, Texas, located near Dallas.
Brentwood Capital Advisors represented VendEngine in the sale negotiations. The acquisition is set to close in the middle of the third quarter.
