AARO, Aico, and Mercur Unite to Transform Financial Management
In a bold move aimed at enhancing financial oversight and performance management, AARO, a leading provider of corporate performance management (CPM) solutions, has successfully merged with Aico and Mercur, both prominent players in financial software. This strategic union is designed to establish a unified Software as a Service (SaaS) platform focused on the needs of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) across the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region.
Accel-KKR, a technology-focused investment firm, played a crucial role in this collaboration, promoting a vision of an integrated solution that addresses the challenges of financial data management and reporting. Michael Teixeira has been appointed as the Group Chief Executive Officer to spearhead this newly formed entity, bringing with him extensive experience in scaling technology businesses effectively.
Enhancing Market Leadership
The merger of AARO with Aico and Mercur is more than just an acquisition; it represents a transformative effort to solidify market leadership in the EMEA region. The combined expertise integrates effective solutions across various financial management domains, including:
- - Aico: Specializes in automating and streamlining financial closing processes.
- - Mercur: Offers tools for budgeting, forecasting, business intelligence, and financial analysis.
- - AARO: Provides robust consolidation and corporate reporting solutions that are essential for multinational operations.
These technologies will combine to support CFOs with crucial tools for automation, compliance, and actionable insights, ultimately facilitating quicker decision-making, enhanced governance, and transparency across organizations.
Teixeira emphasized the far-reaching implications of this merger, stating, “This is more than just a corporate merger; it’s a strategic alliance. By merging AARO, Aico, and Mercur into a cohesive, integrated cloud solution, we aim to assist CFOs throughout the entire value chain—from data management to reporting, and from local transaction closes to consolidated financial statements.”
Impacts on Market Presence and Customer Benefits
The newly formed organization is poised to operate across the Nordic countries, the UK, Ireland, the Benelux region, the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), as well as the Middle East and Africa. It will deliver extensive regional support and expertise, catering to thousands of mid-sized to large enterprises with tailored financial management capabilities.
Key advantages for customers include:
- - Unified SaaS Platform: A seamless cloud solution that supports all financial functions from data capture to reporting. This includes local transaction closures and consolidated financial reporting along with budgeting, forecasting, and performance reporting.
- - Increased Accuracy and Efficiency: AI-driven automation reduces manual workload, thus minimizing risks and enhancing data integrity in the financial closing, consolidation, and reporting processes.
- - Streamlined User Experience: An integrated platform that lowers system complexity while improving usability for financial teams.
- - Continuous Innovation: Enhanced functionalities driven by the combined expertise of product and development teams committed to addressing CFO challenges.
- - Scalable Solutions: A robust and modular platform that adapts to the organization’s needs, facilitating compliance across multiple jurisdictions and industries.
- - Configurability: SaaS software that easily integrates into complex enterprise environments, improving efficiency and reducing data silos.
A Strategic Commitment to Leading Financial Software
This merger signifies Accel-KKR’s ongoing investment in Aico and Mercur, with the acquisition of AARO reinforcing their commitment to build a market-leading cloud finance software suite. Maurice Hernandez, Managing Director at Accel-KKR, shared insights about the ambitious vision behind this integration, highlighting the goal of creating a dominant platform supporting CFOs across the EMEA region.
About AARO
AARO has been a leader in corporate performance management (CPM) since its inception in 1989, providing significant support for multinational corporations with a focus on compliance with IFRS and local GAAP standards. It’s renowned for its efficiency in streamlining complex reporting processes, employing a workforce distributed across Sweden, Latvia, Kenya, the UAE, the UK, and Finland.
For more information, visit
AARO's website.
About Aico Group
Founded in 2019 in Finland, Aico specializes in automating financial close processes for mid-sized and large companies, enabling quicker and more accurate month-end reporting while ensuring regulatory compliance. Its presence spans Finland, Germany, the UK, and Latvia.
Learn more at
Aico's website.
About Mercur Solutions
Mercur has over 50 years of experience providing cloud-based Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software for processes such as budgeting, planning, forecasting, and reporting with a commitment to advancing financial insights. It operates from Sweden with an office in the UK.
For additional details, visit
Mercur's website.
About Accel-KKR
Accel-KKR is a top-tier investment firm specializing in technology with over $23 billion in capital commitments. Its goal includes fostering growth and value creation within software and technology companies, engaging in various strategies including buyouts, minority investments, and credits. For more, see
Accel-KKR's website.