BURLINGTON, MA – Nov. 14, 2016 – Black Duck, a global leader in automated solutions for securing and managing open source software, today announced that its On-Demand Open Source Audit and Open Source Risk Assessment services have won M&A Advisor’s 2016 Financial and Professional Services Product/Service of the Year award. Black Duck was cited for value and excellence in the Information Management, Data and Research category.

Black Duck’s selection was announced on Nov. 9 at the 15th Annual M&A Advisor Awards event, a yearly celebration for firms and professionals in the M&A industry. The awards event at the New York Athletic Club was held in conjunction with the M&A Advisor Summit. At the Summit, Black Duck CEO Lou Shipley and On-Demand VP & General Manager Phil Odence headed a panel discussion highlighting the growing importance of open source due diligence during M&A transactions.

The use of open source software is ubiquitous worldwide and it is an essential component in application development today, often comprising 50 percent of the code in an application. The rapid growth in open source usage has created significant security and management challenges. Identifying the open source in use is an increasingly important aspect of technical due diligence in M&A transactions in which software assets are a significant part of the business valuation.

Shipley said “Our customers have known for a long time that our On-Demand Audits and Open Source Risk Assessments deliver tangible value in M&A transactions. The M&A Advisor is one of the most trusted sources for information in the industry and we appreciate their recognition of our value. As open source usage continues to increase worldwide, the need for and the demand for products that help buyers assure that their open source is secure and effectively managed will continue to grow. It’s very clear that more and more buyers and sellers in M&A transactions will make sure they’ve been ‘blackducked’ during the process.”

The M&A Advisor was founded in 1998 to publish insights and intelligence on mergers and acquisitions, and today is the world’s premier leadership organization of M&A, Turnaround and Finance professionals.

Black Duck was one of five finalists in its category. The finalists were selected from the nominees during the first stage of evaluation, and an independent panel of judges with deep M&A transaction experience reviewed all of the product and company data the finalists provided before selecting the ultimate award winners.