AppsFlyer sale enters final phase, seeking valuation of $2.7-3 billion
Israeli fund Fortissimo and U.S. giant Apollo among bidders in Goldman Sachs–led tender for analytics company.
The sale process of Israeli technology company AppsFlyer is progressing, and Calcalist has learned that one of the bidders seeking to acquire it is Israeli private equity fund Fortissimo Capital. The fund, managed by Yuval Cohen, is participating in the tender being led for AppsFlyer by Goldman Sachs.
The potential sale, first revealed by Calcalist in August, marks a strategic shift for AppsFlyer, which until mid-2024 had been preparing for an IPO on Wall Street.
Fortissimo’s bid for AppsFlyer comes alongside its participation in the tender to acquire Israeli drip-irrigation manufacturer Netafim for roughly $1 billion, also revealed by Calcalist. Of the two parallel deals, Fortissimo currently appears more inclined toward the Netafim acquisition, if it succeeds in winning the tender, reducing its motivation to pursue AppsFlyer. This could even lead the fund to withdraw from the AppsFlyer process altogether.
Goldman Sachs is seeking offers that would value AppsFlyer at $2.7–3 billion, about $1 billion higher than its $2 billion valuation from its last fundraising round in late 2020. If bids fall below that range, the company is expected to cancel the sale.
Four funds that have signed tender documents and entered the data room are competing for the acquisition. Fortissimo representatives have already met with AppsFlyer management. Another bidder, according to sources, is Apollo Global Management, one of the world’s largest investment firms, with over $500 billion in assets under management. Final bids are expected by the end of this week, barring any changes.
Acquiring AppsFlyer at these valuations would be a significant financial challenge for Fortissimo. The fund is currently investing from its sixth fund, which raised $1.1 billion at the end of 2021 and has already deployed about half of that capital. A potential acquisition would therefore require Fortissimo to seek partners or use leverage. Market estimates suggest Fortissimo is in talks with several Israeli venture funds, who collectively hold around 60% of AppsFlyer’s shares, to form a joint controlling interest that would reduce its required stake. These shareholders include Pitango, Qumra, the U.S. fund General Atlantic, and Salesforce Ventures.
Founded in 2011 by Oren Kaniel and Reshef Mann, AppsFlyer develops tools for measuring and analyzing marketing campaigns across mobile and digital platforms. Its open platform enables marketers, developers, and advertisers to identify user acquisition channels and track in-app behavior, providing insights into campaign performance and user engagement. The platform also detects and prevents fraudulent activity such as fake clicks and bot traffic, ensuring that marketing budgets reach real users.
In recent years, AppsFlyer has made several acquisitions that expanded its product portfolio, helping it triple annual revenue to about $400 million and build a cash reserve of $300 million. In February, the company laid off about 100 employees, roughly 7% of its global workforce, leaving it with 1,300 employees across 20 offices worldwide. The layoffs were viewed by analysts as a signal of potential preparations for either a sale or IPO.
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Fortissimo's Yuval Cohen (right) and Apollo's Marc Rowan.
(Photos: Omer Hacohen and Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg)
Meanwhile, Fortissimo continues to advance on several fronts. The fund remains focused on acquiring Netafim, which, if completed, would represent its largest-ever deal. Fortissimo is one of several bidders in a tender managed by Evercore on behalf of Mexican company Orbia, which is selling an 80% stake in Netafim at a valuation of $1.2–1.3 billion, well below the $1.8 billion valuation Orbia (then Mexichem) paid eight years ago. To finance the deal, Fortissimo has begun reaching out to local institutional investors to join in a co-investment model, similar to the structure used for its Cellcom acquisition.
In May 2024, Fortissimo completed the acquisition of control in Cellcom for NIS 936 million, valuing the telecom company at NIS 2.6 billion. That deal included co-investments from Migdal Insurance, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank, Discount Bank, and the Green Lantern fund. Since then, Cellcom’s market value has more than doubled to NIS 5.7 billion.
Fortissimo is also promoting an IPO of food company Sugat, which it built through a series of acquisitions. The offering, expected next month, would value Sugat at NIS 1.5–2 billion. The company, which imports and markets dry food products such as rice, legumes, sugar, and pasta, generates annual revenues of roughly NIS 1.3 billion.
Fortissimo originally acquired Melach Haaretz, a salt manufacturer, from Shari Arison in 2019 for NIS 160 million, and later merged it with Sugat, acquired for $60 million, creating the Sugat Group.
