In the past month, three B2B companies were acquired for around $3 billion each, highlighting the value of proprietary data for AI. Salesforce purchased Fin (formerly Intercom) for $3.6 billion on June 15. Autodesk acquired MaintainX for $3.6 billion on May 28. Schneider Electric bought Cognite for $3.1 billion on June 30. These deals span customer service, facility maintenance, and industrial data sectors, respectively, underscoring a common strategic focus on data assets.
Each acquisition involved legacy platforms paying a premium primarily to own proprietary data critical for AI applications in their domains. Fin, originally Intercom, faced five consecutive quarters of declining net new ARR by 2022 before the Salesforce deal. MaintainX and Cognite operate in equipment maintenance and industrial data plumbing for oil rigs and power plants. Despite different buyers and sectors, the acquisitions reflect a shared emphasis on data rather than revenue growth as the key valuation driver.
These transactions illustrate a broader market trend where companies prioritize data ownership to enhance AI capabilities. The $3 billion price tags correlate closely with the value of proprietary data sets rather than traditional financial metrics like revenue. This pattern signals a shift in B2B valuations toward data assets that enable AI-driven innovation, impacting how investors and companies approach acquisitions in SaaS and industrial technology sectors.
The three deals closed within a 30-day span, with Autodesk’s MaintainX acquisition announced on May 28, Salesforce’s Fin purchase on June 15, and Schneider Electric’s Cognite deal on June 30, according to saastr.com.