Posted by Heidi Schwartz
Accruent, a provider of real estate and facilities management solutions, announced it has acquired Boston, MA-based VFA, Inc. (VFA), a provider of end-to-end solutions for facilities capital planning and asset management.
“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 by saying, “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 the largest independent provider of real estate and facilities management software. VFA customers will see no interruption to support and services as the integration of the two companies takes place.
