Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM), which sells business productivity software, agreed to buy Demandware Inc. (NYSE: DWRE), a provider of cloud-commerce services, in a transaction worth about $2.8 billion.

Cloud computing is driving tech deals in the middle market. Bregal Sagemount has acquired Discovery Data Inc. and Siris Capital Group LLC agreed to buy Xura Inc. (Nasdaq: MESG).  GTCR, which won Mergers & Acquisitions' 2013 M&A Mid-Market Private Equity Firm of the Year, agreed to buy Lytx. For more on cloud M&A, see Thoma Bravo & Others Bet Big on the Cloud and Cloud-Computing will Keep the Deals Coming.

Under the terms of the agreement, Salesforce will start a tender offer for all outstanding Demandware shares for $75 each in cash, the companies said in a statement Wednesday. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of Salesforce’s fiscal year 2017.

The acquisition positions Salesforce to take advantage of an increase in spending on digital commerce platforms, which is expected to grow by more than 14 percent a year to $8.6 billion by 2020, the companies said, citing research by Gartner Inc. Demandware clients include L’Oreal SA and Marks & Spencer Group Plc.

 

--Additional Reporting by Mergers & Acquisitions' Demitri Diakantonis

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