Highlights:

  • Established in 2009, MariaDB provides a commercial version of its name-brand open-source relational database software.
  • December 2022 saw MariaDB go public on the New York Stock Exchange, listing for USD 11.55 per share. 

K1 Investment Management acquired MariaDB plc, a database management system provider, for an undisclosed amount.

MariaDB had already revealed in February that it had received interest from K1 in a purchase, as well as an unsolicited nonbinding offer to buy the business. In the previous plan, K1 was proposing to pay 55 cents a share, or USD 37 million, to take MariaDB private.

Established in 2009, MariaDB provides a commercial version of its name-brand open-source relational database software. Because of their high availability, scalability, and performance, the company’s products are a well-liked substitute for proprietary databases like those provided by Oracle Corp.

The fully managed database-as-a-service systems MariaDB Enterprise Server and SkySQL, which serve both transactional and analytical workloads, are among the products offered by the company. With little management overhead, the services enable enterprises to take advantage of the potential of open-source databases in cloud environments.

Businesses in a variety of sectors, such as finance, telecommunications, and e-commerce, rely on MariaDB’s services to manage mission-critical applications. The company’s emphasis on open-source development guarantees ongoing innovation in addition to robust enterprise and community support to fulfil a range of data requirements.

December 2022 saw MariaDB go public on the New York Stock Exchange, listing for USD 11.55 per share. On the first day of trading, the company’s share price dropped by about 40% to USD 6.70, indicating that the IPO was not very successful. Since then, the company’s stock has dropped, with a recent trade at 55 cents, which is roughly the amount K1 most likely paid for MariaDB.

Before being acquired, MariaDB boasted about 700 active users. Notable clients included the U.S. Department of Defense, Deutsche Bank AG, Nokia Corp., Red Hat Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., and ServiceNow Inc.

MariaDB announced the appointment of Rohit de Souza as CEO along with its acquisition. In his prior positions, Rohit oversaw multinational teams that fueled expansion and change at Actian Corp. and Micro Focus International plc. Paul O’Brien, the former CEO, will continue to serve as an advisor to the business.

“Together, we aim to accelerate product innovation and continue MariaDB’s mission of delivering high-quality, enterprise-grade solutions to meet the growing demands of the market,” K1 Managing Director Sujit Banerjee stated.