Azul buys Payara to build unified open-source Java stack

Azul has acquired UK-based Payara in a deal that expands the US company's presence across the enterprise Java stack and extends its reach into the application server market.

The transaction brings together Azul's focus on Java runtimes with Payara's Jakarta EE-based application server products. Both companies position themselves around open-source Java for large organisations that run business-critical software.

Financial terms were not disclosed. Azul said the addition of Payara increases its addressable market through a stronger position in application servers and related services.

Azul, headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, develops Java runtimes and tooling. Payara, founded in the UK, provides Jakarta EE (formerly Java EE) application server software and support for on-premise, hybrid and cloud-native deployments.

The companies have worked together for nearly eight years. Their relationship began when Azul Platform Core was embedded into Payara Server Enterprise in 2018.

Azul said Payara brings specialist engineering skills in Jakarta EE and experience in selling and supporting applications built on that standard. It said this will extend Azul's Java portfolio and broaden its access to enterprises looking at modernisation and cloud migration of legacy Java systems.

Unified Java stack

The combined business plans a unified set of open-source-based Java products that can cover a wide range of workloads. These include traditional business applications, microservices, internet of things deployments and newer Java frameworks.

Azul said this approach will offer an alternative to proprietary Java and application server providers such as Oracle. It said customers will gain a commercially supported stack that runs across the Java application lifecycle.

Both Azul and Payara have long-standing participation in Java's open-source communities. These include the OpenJDK project for the Java platform and the Eclipse Foundation's Jakarta EE initiative for enterprise Java.

Azul said this shared background underpins their product integration plans and their contribution to future Java standards.

Scott Sellers, Co-founder and CEO of Azul, said the deal reflects the company's focus on large organisations using Java at scale.

"This strategic acquisition is further testament to Azul's commitment to support the needs of our global enterprise customer base," said Scott Sellers, co-founder and CEO of Azul. "Payara delivers proven products that are naturally synergistic with our existing offerings and brings additional deep technical expertise to the world's largest independent Java engineering team. Together, we will accelerate growth and innovation, expand our roadmap and deliver even greater value to our customers."

Payara has built a customer base across sectors such as finance and healthcare. Its clients include BMW Group, Rakuten, Swisscom and KCB Bank Group.

Payara's founder and chief executive, Steve Millidge, said joining Azul follows a period of partnership between the two companies.

"This is a major new chapter for Payara," said Steve Millidge, founder and CEO at Payara. "After a strong and long-standing partnership with Azul, combining forces is the natural next step and positions us for accelerated growth. Together, we will strengthen mission-critical solutions for enterprise Java customers and deliver greater performance, security and innovation across the Java ecosystem."

Market expansion

Azul said bringing Payara into its portfolio expands its presence in the application server segment. It cited external research estimating that the application server market represents a total addressable market of about USD $26 billion and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11-14% over the coming years.

The acquisition follows a majority investment in Azul by private equity firm Thoma Bravo. Vitruvian Partners and Lead Edge Capital, which had already invested in Azul, also increased their minority stakes.

Thoma Bravo said the Payara deal fits with its strategy for Azul. The firm backs software vendors that focus on recurring revenue and mission-critical infrastructure.

"The acquisition of Payara accelerates Azul's growth and broadens the company's reach across the global enterprise Java market," said Adam Solomon, a partner at Thoma Bravo. "Azul's category-defining innovations create a significant opportunity for global enterprises to leverage innovative and cost-effective open-source solutions to modernize their Java application fleets and reduce dependencies on proprietary platforms."

Azul said it now serves a customer base that includes more than a third of the Fortune 100 and half of Forbes' top 10 most valuable global brands. Its clients include major banks and large technology and telecoms companies.

The company said it will integrate Payara's products and teams into its existing operations. It plans a combined roadmap that spans Java runtimes, tooling and application servers for enterprise users.