Esker to acquire majority stake in Market Dojo

Thursday 6th January, 2022

Esker has announced that it has reached an agreement with the shareholders of Market Dojo to acquire 50.1% of the shares and voting rights in the company effective Q1 2022 and the remainder of Market Dojo shares after a period of four years.

Based in Bristol, Market Dojo has 20 employees and over 160 customers, 60% of which are outside its domestic market, including France, the United States and the Middle East.

The merger offers Market Dojo significant international development opportunities for its solutions. It also strengthens Esker’s competitiveness in its traditional markets by integrating eSourcing as a new key functional area, including reverse auctions, request for quotations (RFQ), request for proposals (RFP) management, supplier onboarding, etc, according to a company press release.

“Ardent Partners research has shown that more finance and procurement executives prefer to make holistic, suite-level investments instead of managing a series of one-off solution providers,” said Andrew Bartolini, Founder and Chief Research Officer at Ardent Partners. “Given that, it makes great sense for a best-in-class ePayables provider like Esker to extend their offering with the acquisition of Market Dojo.”

“It’s a delight to join forces with Esker,” said Alun Rafique, CEO and Co-founder at Market Dojo. “There is incredible synergy, not just in our solutions, but in the people and culture. The acquisition provides a great opportunity for our customers and partners. 2022 will be an exciting year for anyone interested in a P2P ecosystem and Market Dojo will be able to strengthen its position as the market leading provider of on-demand eSourcing and supplier engagement solutions.”

“We are pleased to welcome Market Dojo to the Esker family,” said Jean-Michel Bérard, CEO at Esker. “This acquisition provides new growth opportunities in a developing market and strengthens Esker’s positioning in the global P2P arena. Additionally, Market Dojo is an excellent illustration of Esker’s strategy to invest in organic growth combined with targeted acquisitions that offer a high potential for growth.”