F5 adquire a NGINX por US$ 670 milhões
Marca com grande reconhecimento nos mercados DevOps (de desenvolvimento de aplicações na nuvem) e de código aberto, a NGINX acelera a transformação da F5 em um vendor de soluções de software e multinuvem
A F5, líder em soluções que garantem a segurança e a entrega de aplicações corporativas anuncia que acaba de adquirir a NGINX por US$ 670 milhões. “A aquisição da NGINX acelera a nossa transformação em um vendor de soluções de software e multinuvem”, disse François Locoh-Donou, Presidente e CEO da F5. “Vamos agregar as soluções da NGINX de entrega de aplicações de software e gerenciamento de API ao nosso portfólio”. A NGINX é uma marca com grande credibilidade e reconhecimento na comunidade de DevOps (desenvolvedores de aplicações), além de forte presença na base de usuários de código aberto. “Com essa aquisição, nós eliminamos a separação entre NetOps (área de infraestrutura de rede) e DevOps (área de desenvolvimento de aplicações) por meio da oferta de serviços de aplicação para todo o ambiente multinuvem”.
Para Locoh-Donou, o novo portfólio da F5 fornecerá a todo o mercado — desde o desenvolvedor de aplicações até o engenheiro de redes e o especialista em segurança — as ferramentas que necessitam para assegurar que suas aplicações estejam disponíveis e seguras em todas as plataformas, desde o data center corporativo até as nuvens privadas e públicas.
A F5 aprimorará as atuais ofertas da NGINX com soluções de segurança da F5. Haverá a integração entre as soluções F5 nativas da nuvem com a tecnologia da NGINX de balanceamento de carga de software. Isso irá acelerar o time-to-market da F5 para serviços de aplicação para aplicações conteinerizadas. A F5 irá, também, alavancar globalmente sua força de vendas e ecossistema de parceiros para escalar as oportunidades de venda de NGINX para a empresa.
“A NGINX e a F5 compartilham a mesma missão e visão. Acreditamos que as aplicações estão no cerne do movimento da transformação digital. Para nós, a infraestrutura de aplicações de ponta a ponta — que se estende desde o código até o cliente — é essencial para garantir a entrega de aplicações em um ambiente multinuvem”, disse Gus Robertson, CEO da NGINX, Inc. “Graças a essa fusão, a F5 ganha profundidade com soluções projetadas para DevOps, enquanto a NGINX ganha amplitude com acesso a dezenas de milhares de clientes e parceiros”.
Após o fechamento da aquisição, a F5 manterá a marca NGINX. Gus Robertson, juntamente com os fundadores da NGINX Igor Sysoev e Maxim Konovalov, se unirá à F5 e continuará no comando da NGINX. Robertson fará parte da equipe sênior de gestão da F5, reportando-se a François Locoh-Donou.
A F5 manterá as operações da NGINX em São Francisco, na Califórnia, e em outras localidades ao redor do mundo.
Detalhes da Transação
Espera-se que a aquisição da NGINX aumente o crescimento da receita de software da F5 e também o mix de receitas de software da empresa no ano fiscal de 2019. No curto prazo, a F5 espera que a aquisição e o investimento orgânico em soluções novas e emergentes resultem em uma modesta diluição de lucros nos anos fiscais de 2019 e 2020.
A F5 forneceu os seguintes dados referentes à sua perspectiva para o seu Horizonte 1 (anos fiscal de 2019 ao ano fiscal de 2020), após o encerramento da aquisição da NGINX:
Analyst and Investor Meeting Horizon 1 (FY19-FY20) Outlook, March 2018 |
Post-NGINX Acquisition Horizon 1 (FY19-FY20) Guidance |
|
Total Revenue Growth | Low-to-mid single-digit growth | Mid single-digit growth |
Software1 Revenue Growth | 30%-35%+ growth | 35%-40%+ growth |
Software1 as a % of Product Revenue | Mid 20s% | 25%-30% |
Non-GAAP Gross Margin | ~85% | ~85% |
Non-GAAP Operating Margin | 35%-37% | 33%-35% |
Non-GAAP EPS | Mid-to-high single-digit growth | Low single-digit growth |
1 Software includes standalone Virtual Editions, including subscriptions & utility, and as a Service offerings
All forward-looking non-GAAP measures included in the outlook exclude estimates for amortization of intangible assets, share-based compensation expenses, significant effects of tax legislation and judicial or administrative interpretation of tax regulations, including the impact of income tax reform, non-recurring income tax adjustments, valuation allowance on deferred tax assets, and the income tax effect of non-GAAP exclusions, and do not include the impact of any restructuring charges, facility exit costs, or other non-recurring charges that may occur in the period. F5 is unable to provide a reconciliation of non-GAAP guidance measures to corresponding U.S. generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP measures on a forward-looking basis without unreasonable effort due to the overall high variability and low visibility of most of the foregoing items that have been excluded. Material changes to any one of these items could have a significant effect on our guidance and future GAAP results. Certain exclusions, such as amortization of intangible assets and share-based compensation expenses, are generally incurred each quarter, but the amounts have historically varied and may continue to vary significantly from quarter to quarter.
F5 intends to fund the transaction through cash on its balance sheet. In conjunction with the transaction, the Company is suspending its common stock share repurchase program. The Company will continue to evaluate market conditions and other factors including F5’s capital requirements in determining when and whether to continue such program and the levels of such program. The program does not require the purchase of any minimum number of shares and the program may be modified, suspended, or discontinued at any time.
The acquisition has been approved by the boards of directors of both F5 and NGINX and, following execution of the definitive agreement, received the requisite shareholder approval of NGINX. It is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second calendar quarter of 2019.
Foros acted as financial advisor and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati provided legal counsel to F5 on this transaction. Qatalyst Partners served as financial advisor to NGINX.
F5 Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding the continuing strength and momentum of F5’s business, future financial performance, sequential growth, projected revenues including target revenue and earnings ranges, income, earnings per share, share amount and share price assumptions, share repurchases, demand for application delivery networking, application delivery services, security, and software products, expectations regarding future services and products, expectations regarding future customers, markets and the benefits of products, and other statements that are not historical facts and which are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions and other factors that, if they do not fully materialize or prove correct, could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: customer acceptance of our new traffic management, security, application delivery, optimization, and software and F5aaS offerings; the timely development, introduction and acceptance of additional new products and features by F5 or its competitors; competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors into F5’s markets, and new product and marketing initiatives by our competitors; increased sales discounts; the business impact of the acquisition of NGINX and potential adverse reactions or changes to business or employee relationships, including those resulting from the announcement or completion of the acquisition; uncertainties as to the timing of the transaction; uncertain global economic conditions which may result in reduced customer demand for our products and services and changes in customer payment patterns; global economic conditions and uncertainties in the geopolitical environment; overall information technology spending; litigation involving patents, intellectual property, shareholder and other matters, and governmental investigations; natural catastrophic events; a pandemic or epidemic; F5’s ability to sustain, develop and effectively utilize distribution relationships; F5’s ability to attract, train and retain qualified product development, marketing, sales, professional services and customer support personnel; F5’s ability to expand in international markets; the unpredictability of F5’s sales cycle; F5’s common stock repurchase program and activities thereunder and differences may result from, among other things, actions taken by the Company or its management or Board regarding operations or strategy, and activities and conditions relating to pricing, trading, capital requirement and repurchasing of shares of F5 common stock including continued suspension or modification or discontinuation of the common stock repurchase program; future prices of F5’s common stock; and other risks and uncertainties described more fully in our documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K and other documents that we may file or furnish from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. The financial information contained in this release should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in F5’s most recent reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K as each may be amended from time to time. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available as of the date hereof and qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. F5 assumes no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements.
GAAP to non-GAAP Reconciliation
F5’s management evaluates and makes operating decisions using various operating measures. These measures are generally based on the revenues of its products, services operations and certain costs of those operations, such as cost of revenues, research and development, sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses. One such measure is net income excluding stock-based compensation, amortization of purchased intangible assets, acquisition-related charges, net of taxes, and certain non-recurring tax expenses and benefits, which is a non-GAAP financial measure under Section 101 of Regulation G under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. This measure consists of GAAP net income excluding, as applicable, stock-based compensation, amortization of purchased intangible assets, litigation expense, restructuring charges, facility exit costs, gain on sale of patents, non-recurring tax expenses and benefits, and acquisition-related charges. This measure of non-GAAP net income is adjusted by the amount of additional taxes or tax benefit that the company would accrue if it used non-GAAP results instead of GAAP results to calculate the company’s tax liability. Stock-based compensation is a non-cash expense that F5 has accounted for since July 1, 2005 in accordance with the fair value recognition provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 718 Compensation—Stock Compensation (“FASB ASC Topic 718”). Amortization of intangible assets is a non-cash expense. Investors should note that the use of intangible assets contribute to revenues earned during the periods presented and will contribute to revenues in future periods. Acquisition-related expenses consist of professional services fees incurred in connection with acquisitions. In addition, non-recurring costs associated with the relocation of the company’s corporate headquarters have been excluded from GAAP net income for the purpose of measuring non-GAAP earnings and earnings per share in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019.
Management believes that non-GAAP net income per share provides useful supplemental information to management and investors regarding the performance of the company’s core business operations and facilitates comparisons to the company’s historical operating results. Although F5’s management finds this non-GAAP measure to be useful in evaluating the performance of the core business, management’s reliance on this measure is limited because items excluded from such measures could have a material effect on F5’s earnings and earnings per share calculated in accordance with GAAP. Therefore, F5’s management will use its non-GAAP earnings and earnings per share measures, in conjunction with GAAP earnings and earnings per share measures, to address these limitations when evaluating the performance of the company’s core business. Investors should consider these non-GAAP measures in addition to, and not as a substitute for, financial performance measures in accordance with GAAP.
F5 believes that presenting its non-GAAP measures of earnings and earnings per share provides investors with an additional tool for evaluating the performance of the company’s core business and is used by management in its own evaluation of the company’s performance. Investors are encouraged to look at GAAP results as the best measure of financial performance. However, while the GAAP results are more complete, the company provides investors these supplemental measures since, with reconciliation to GAAP, it may provide additional insight into the company’s operational performance and financial results.
Sobre a F5
A F5 aumenta a velocidade, a inteligência e a segurança das aplicações de algumas das maiores organizações do mundo: corporações, provedores de serviços de Telecomunicações, órgãos governamentais e grandes empresas consumer. A F5 entrega soluções de nuvem e de segurança que permitem às organizações atender às demandas da sua infraestrutura de aplicações; isso é feito com rapidez e controle. Para mais informações, visite www.f5.com. Você pode, também, seguir @f5networks no Twitter ou nos encontrar no LinkedIn e no Facebook.