by Brianna Crandall — November 17, 2014—Accruent, a global provider of real estate and facilities management solutions, has just announced that it has acquired Boston-based VFA, Inc. (VFA), a leading provider of end-to-end solutions for facilities capital planning and asset management worldwide.
According to the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), organizations worldwide invest more than $100 billion annually on renovating and maintaining their facilities and related assets. VFA’s cloud software solutions and consulting services enable customers to assess their real estate portfolios, allocate capital, and make better decisions to support their organizations’ mission and strategy.
“We believe this combination is of strategic significance to our customers and the broader facilities market,” said Accruent chief executive officer Mark Friedman. “For several years, Accruent has pursued an acquisition strategy designed to address the fragmentation of real estate and facilities software solutions. By combining the management of the facilities operating and capital budgets, the two primary needs of all facilities executives, we now provide a unified enterprise solution combining world-class cloud software and consulting services for facilities strategy, planning, management, and operations.”
VFA serves government, education, healthcare, and corporate customers from its offices in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and has current projects in 35 countries worldwide. The combination brings more than 600 new customers to Accruent.
The University of Texas at Austin is a long-time customer of both Accruent and VFA. The university’s Office of Campus Planning and Facilities Management (CPFM) is responsible for campus planning, sustainability, utilities, energy management, project management, construction, and facilities services across more than 20 million square feet of classroom, research, and other spaces.
CPFM depends on VFA to assess campus needs, and to prioritize and validate its renovation and renewal expenditures of $15 million per year. Much of the data to support this effort is extracted from the operational systems supplied by Accruent, including maintenance history that can provide early warning of looming capital expenditure needs. Currently, information is double entered into both systems.
“I welcome the news that two strong partners are joining forces,” said Steve Kraal, senior AVP of Facilities. “My team and I depend on VFA and Accruent to provide the university with a clear picture of the funding required to maintain our campus, and also to deliver first-class services to all our stakeholders. I see nothing but upside in the combination of these two market leaders, and tighter integration between our two essential solutions.”
Jerry Kokos, president and CEO of VFA, hailed the combination, “This is an exciting new chapter for VFA customers and employees. The logical next step for us is to broaden our scope to address our customers’ end-to-end facilities management challenge, and I can imagine no better course than to join with Accruent.”
The combined company is expected to be the largest independent provider of real estate and facilities management software. VFA assures its customers that they will see no interruption to support and services as the integration of the two companies takes place.
Accruent helps real estate and facilities leaders deliver long-term, world-class operational and financial performance through industry-specific suites that deliver greater customer value. Accruent’s solutions are at work in more than 4,000 leading organizations worldwide, including 40% of the Top 100 Retailers, 20% of the Fortune 500, 100 leading universities, all of the Top 4 U.S. wireless carriers, 40% of U.S. hospitals, and leading service providers managing more than 4 billion square feet of property, says the company. Founded in 1995, Accruent is headquartered in Austin, TX, with offices in Santa Monica, CA; Evanston, IL; Columbus, OH; Pittsburgh, PA; Boston, MA; Calgary, AB, Canada; and Hong Kong.
VFA provides end-to-end solutions for facilities capital planning and management. Through its assessment services and cloud-based software products, VFA enables clients to assess their portfolios, allocate capital, and make better decisions in supporting their organizations’ mission and strategy. VFA’s solutions are used by over 600 organizations worldwide across a variety of industries including federal, state and local government, higher education and K-12, healthcare, and Fortune 500 corporations. Founded in 2000, VFA is headquartered in Boston, MA, with offices in Canada and the United Kingdom.
