TriNet expands with ExpenseCloud

Contact: Brenon Daly

Throughout its history, TriNet Group has been a slow but steady consolidator. Perhaps the best-known play by the outsourced HR provider came three years ago, when it gobbled up publicly traded rival Gevity HR for $99m. In its most recent deal, however, the private equity-backed buyer has shifted gears a bit.

Rather than simply add more accounts through an acquisition, TriNet has added a nifty offering to its portfolio. The company recently picked up three-year-old startup ExpenseCloud, which helps automate the process around creating and reimbursing employee expenses. TriNet says the expense management offering will be available on its platform later this year.

Although, candidly, employee expense management sounds like a ho-hum market, the big player in this space – publicly traded Concur Technologies – has shown it can be a wildly valued one. The company’s shares currently change hands at their highest-ever level, putting its market valuation at a whopping $3.4bn. Concur recently projected that sales for its current fiscal year, which ends in September, would be in the neighborhood of $440m, meaning investors are valuing the company at 7.6 times this year’s projected sales.

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