BMC Software Inc. today announced plans to acquire Compuware Corp., a leading maker of mainframe software with which it has been competing for decades.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed because both companies are privately held. 

BMC is owned by investment firm KKR & Co. Inc. and it’s buying Compuware from Thoma Bravo LLC, which acquired Compuware for $2.4 billion in 2014. A few weeks ago, sources told Bloomberg that Thoma Bravo was looking to sell the mainframe software maker for around $2 billion plus debt. Though the companies didn’t disclose the value of the transaction, BMC did acknowledge the deal is “one of its largest acquisitions in years.”

Houston, Texas-based BMC has about 6,000 employees and generates about $2 billion in annual revenues. The company started out in 1980 with a focus on selling mainframe software but over the years has branched out into other newer market segments as cloud infrastructure monitoring. At the same time, it continues to offer a sizable lineup of mainframe software products for automating data management, cybersecurity and other core use cases.

Compuware is one of BMC’s oldest competitors. The Detroit-based firm is a major provider of mainframe software, with roots dating all the way back to 1970, and over its history it often competed with BMC. The companies’ longtime rivalry thawed somewhat in 2015 when they struck a partnership to integrate a few of their solutions.

BMC plans to use Compuware’s products, most notably its Topaz toolkit for developing mainframe applications, to enhance its own existing product lineup. “It’s the ideal time to bring Compuware into our portfolio as the traditional mainframe AppDev market transitions to DevOps,” said BMC Chief Executive Officer Ayman Sayed.

The companies expect the deal to wrap up in the coming months pending customary closing conditions.

The Compuware deal is BMC’s third mainframe-related acquisition in two years. The company bought IBM Z consulting specialist RSM Partners LLC last month and picked up CorreLog Inc., a maker of mainframe cybersecurity tools, in late 2018.

Google LLC has also been active in this area lately. The search giant recently revealed that it had absorbed Cornerstone Technology B.V., a Netherlands-based software and consulting firm focused on helping enterprises move their mainframe workloads to the cloud. 

Photo: BMC