Microsoft buys Greek tech firm Softomotive
Microsoft confirmed on Tuesday Kathimerini’s exclusive report about the US-based software giant’s acquisition of Greek-owned Softomotive, in what is the biggest acquisition of a Greek tech company to date.
UK-based Softomotive was founded in 2005 by Marios Stavropoulos and is today considered a pioneer in robotic process automation (RPA): This is one of the technological sectors currently enjoying the greatest demand and which concerns software used for the automation of processes a computer user executes repeatedly.
Through the technology Softomotive has developed businesses are able to save time, cut costs, increase work efficiency and relieve their workers of processes that can be implemented mechanically. The company’s software is now being used successfully in the banking and insurance sectors, as well as by healthcare companies.
Sources say the price Microsoft is paying to buy out the Greek-owned firm is more than 100 million euros, and that the most important element of this acquisition is that a technological giant such as Microsoft has chosen to expand the RPA domain via Softomotive technology. It is also possible that a research and technology center for Microsoft’s RPA will open in Greece.
Kathimerini understands that Softomotive’s board played a part in the acquisition: This is because Grafton Capital, the British investment company that invested $25 million in Softomotive in 2018, appointed Guy Berruyer, a French entrepreneur who used to be the chief executive of Sage, one of the biggest European software companies, as Softomotive chairman last year.
Softomotive, which Microsoft said Tuesday cooperates with more than 9,000 international clients, was founded in Athens 15 years ago. It opened its London offices in 2015. It also has a presence in New York, India and South Korea. As Bloomberg has already reported, thanks to its rising course, Softomotive today rivals many foreign startups and software companies, including Automation and UiPath, which is about to be listed and was recently valued at $7 billion.
