Finance
Merger of French and Swiss business software firms heralds new unicorn
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 2, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 2, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
LumApps and Beekeeper merge to form a $1.1 billion unicorn, backed by Bridgepoint, with plans for a unified platform and potential IPO.
ZURICH (Reuters) -A merger between French business software provider LumApps and its Swiss peer Beekeeper will create a new unicorn worth about $1.1 billion, the two companies said.
The deal announced on Wednesday, which is due to complete this month, is backed by British private equity group Bridgepoint, which was previously a major shareholder in LumApps and will hold a majority stake in the new firm.
"Midterm, an IPO or a trade sale are options. With the U.S. and Europe being our core markets, both would be great (IPO venue) candidates," said Beekeeper CEO Cristian Grossmann.
The new firm's headquarters will be in Lyon, the home of LumApps, whose CEO Sebastien Ricard will lead the business. It will have approximately 600 employees worldwide.
Unicorns are unlisted start-ups valued at at least $1 billion. Such firms are comparatively rare in Europe.
LumApps makes software that companies use to run their intranets.
"We are trying to augment or even replace products like Microsoft's SharePoint," said Elie Melois, chief technology officer of LumApps, which is used by the likes of Airbus and luxury goods group LVMH.
While LumApps products are mainly used by office workers, Beekeeper has an app that allows frontline staff to communicate with the rest of the company.
Beekeeper, founded by graduates of ETH Zurich, counts Swiss retailer Coop and Heathrow airport among its clients.
Within six months, the merged company aims to introduce a unified platform.
Current revenue of around $150 million is expected to double to around $300 million by 2030. LumApps already turns a profit, and Beekeeper aims to break even this year. "The combined group will be profitable from day one," Melois said.
(Reporting by Oliver Hirt, Writing by Dave Graham, Editing by Miranda Murray)
The merger between LumApps and Beekeeper is expected to create a new unicorn valued at approximately $1.1 billion.
The new firm's headquarters will be in Lyon, which is the home of LumApps.
The current revenue of around $150 million is expected to double to approximately $300 million by 2030.
Beekeeper CEO Cristian Grossmann mentioned that an IPO or a trade sale are potential options for the future.
LumApps provides software for running intranets, while Beekeeper offers an app for frontline staff communication.
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