Jack Henry & Associates looking to get back into M&A market

Jack Henry & Associates Inc. is looking to reenter the M&A market following a deal drought that has now surpassed 12 months, executives said on a call to discuss the company's fiscal third-quarter earnings.

"I'm pretty optimistic about calendar '22 as a year where Jack Henry can get back into the game as far as M&A is concerned," CEO David Foss said. The company's most recent acquisition was in March 2021, when it acquired Stackfolio Inc.

Foss said that there is a specific type of company that Jack Henry is looking to engage in M&A discussions.

"There are a lot of companies in our space, who were on the sidelines who were kind of prepping to go public given the frothiness of the market, and now that has all stopped and so, if you're running a nice little company and you're sitting on the sideline thinking you were going to IPO and now that is not going to happen and you're contemplating a capital raise or find a really nice strategic partner like Jack Henry, I think you would look seriously at talking to Jack Henry," Foss said.

Foss also believes M&A opportunities exist with companies that "went public last year and probably technically shouldn't have gone public."