Chairman’s letter to shareholders
Delivering on our ambition to be a leading global AI-powered software and cloud provider requires staying close to customer needs, fostering a culture in which people can thrive, and pursuing a disciplined focus on profitable growth.
Till Spillmann, Chair
Dear shareholders,
The year 2025 was a defining one for SoftwareOne – a year characterized by significant progress in positioning the company for its next phase of development.
The completion of the combination with Crayon marked a major strategic milestone, creating a global champion in software and cloud services. The transaction was supported by an overwhelming majority of shareholders and endorsed as the right step in a consolidating and fast-evolving market, and we thank you for your trust.
The strategic rationale for the combination is rooted in the evolving needs of our customers. They are facing ever-growing complexity in their IT environments – from optimizing software and cloud spend to managing hybrid and multicloud infrastructures, cybersecurity risks, and the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence, which can help customers adopt new technologies responsibly, securely, and cost-effectively. By combining SoftwareOne and Crayon, we have strengthened our ability to support customers across this entire journey. Our complementary capabilities and unique global footprint position us as an even more relevant partner to customers and vendors, including the major hyperscaler ecosystems.
The Board of Directors sees tangible benefits ahead from the combination. Identified cost synergies of CHF 80–100 million are being addressed through a structured integration program, supported by a focused operating model and a leadership team committed to disciplined execution. Already in 2025, the Group realized run-rate synergies of approximately CHF 43 million, reflecting early progress in organizational alignment and operational efficiencies, and underpinning our expectation to reach CHF 100 million of synergies. We are also starting to see meaningful revenue synergies materialize as our sales initiatives gain traction in the market. These synergies are expected to strengthen profitability, cash generation, and financial flexibility, enabling continued investment in growth while supporting sustainable shareholder returns.
SoftwareOne made solid financial progress in 2025, as underlined by a strong performance in the fourth quarter. IFRS-reported revenue increased 22.5% compared to 2024, reflecting the Crayon acquisition closed on July 2, 2025. On a combined like-for-like basis, we delivered 1.4% constant currency growth compared to 2024, exceeding the expectation we communicated in August. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 20.9% in 2025 (combined like-for-like), in line with the company’s guidance, driven by the cost reduction program initiated previously and completed in Q1 2025, and continued strict cost control.
Against this backdrop, the Board of Directors will propose to shareholders a dividend of CHF 0.15 for the 2025 financial year, in line with our dividend policy, at the upcoming Annual General Meeting on May 22, 2026.
Alongside operational progress, 2025 was also a year of governance renewal and cultural convergence following the combination with Crayon. We advanced the integration of our people, platforms, and ways of working, and our progress confirms that we have a strong and well-aligned leadership team in place. At Board of Directors level, independence and the entrepreneurial heritage of both SoftwareOne and Crayon continue to shape our composition and perspective.
Anchored in our shared values, we continued to advance our efforts in environmental stewardship and social impact, recognizing their importance for long-term value creation. In 2025, we further strengthened the sustainability-related mandates of the BoD and Executive Board, reinforcing accountability and oversight at the highest levels of the organization.
SoftwareOne’s strategic direction has the full support of the Board of Directors. Our ambition is to be a leading global AI-powered software and cloud provider and distributor – trusted to optimize IT costs, enable innovation, and solve complex challenges. Delivering on this ambition requires staying close to customer needs, fostering a culture in which people can thrive, and pursuing an even more disciplined focus on profitable growth and cash generation. In 2026, a specific focus will be on cost management while we continue to integrate and transform the company in a rapidly evolving industry environment. We will update the market at a Capital Markets Day in June 2026 as we continue to refine our strategy and mid-term targets.
We are confident in SoftwareOne’s positioning and believe that the fundamental demand drivers for software, cloud, and digital transformation remain intact. In addition, in a more competitive market environment, we believe that software vendors will increasingly be reliant on scaled global channel partners to ensure market access, efficient go-to-market execution, and consistent customer coverage across regions. This is particularly relevant in the context of AI, where successful adoption requires customers to navigate an increasingly complex landscape of platforms, consumption models, and integration requirements. Partners play a critical role in driving AI adoption by advising customers, enabling deployment, optimizing cloud environments, and ensuring ongoing value realization. As one of the few truly global, large-scale software and cloud services partners, SoftwareOne is well placed to benefit from these developments.
We are convinced that, with its highly scalable operating model, SoftwareOne can capture additional efficiency gains, including through the disciplined deployment of AI-enabled initiatives across our operations and service delivery.
As a Board of Directors, we will continue to support the executive team while exercising rigorous oversight, with a clear emphasis on sustainable value creation.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I thank our employees around the world for their commitment and resilience during a year of significant change. I also thank our customers and partners for their continued collaboration and trust, and you, our shareholders, for your continued engagement and support in these transformative times.
Yours sincerely,
Till Spillmann
Chair