Cisco to acquire Splunk for $157 per share in cash, or $28B EV
Cisco (CSCO) and Splunk (SPLK) announced a definitive agreement under which Cisco intends to acquire Splunk for $157 per share in cash, representing approximately $28B in equity value.
Upon close of the acquisition, Splunk President and CEO Gary Steele will join Cisco’s Executive Leadership Team reporting to Chair and CEO Chuck Robbins.
The transaction is expected to be cash flow positive and gross margin accretive in the first fiscal year post close, and non-GAAP EPS accretive in year two.
Additionally, it will accelerate Cisco’s revenue growth and gross margin expansion.
The transaction will not impact Cisco’s previously announced share buyback program or dividend program.
The acquisition has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both Cisco and Splunk. It is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of calendar year 2024, subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions including approval by Splunk shareholders.
Splunk Inc, develops and markets cloud services and licensed software solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers unified security and observability platform, including Splunk Security that helps security leaders fortify their organization’s digital resilience by mitigating cyber risk and meeting compliance requirements; and Splunk Observability, which provides visibility across the full stack of infrastructure, applications, and the digital customer experience.
SPLK is up 21% to $144.74. CSCO is down 4% to $53.25.
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
Nasdaq to acquire Adenza from Thoma Bravo for $10.5B in cash and stock
Nasdaq (NDAQ) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Adenza, a provider of mission-critical risk management and regulatory software to the financial services industry, from Thoma Bravo for $10.5B in cash and shares of common stock.
The acquisition accelerates Nasdaq’s strategic vision to become the trusted fabric of the world’s financial system.
Upon the closing of the transaction, Holden Spaht, a Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo, is expected to be appointed to Nasdaq’s Board of Directors, which will be expanded to twelve members.
Adenza brings an attractive financial profile, with approximately $590M of 2023E revenue, organic revenue growth of approximately 15%, annual recurring revenue growth of 18%, and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 58%.
The company has a loyal and growing client base, with 98% gross retention, 115% net retention, and a durable mix of approximately 80% recurring revenue.
The addition of Adenza is projected to enhance Nasdaq’s already strong financial profile by growing Solutions Businesses revenue from 71% of total revenue today to 77% in 2023E, increasing adjusted EBITDA margin to 57%, and adding approximately $300M of annual unlevered pre-tax cash flow.
Nasdaq is acquiring Adenza for $10.5B, comprised of $5.75B in cash and 85.6M shares of Nasdaq common stock, based on the volume-weighted average price per share over 15 consecutive trading days prior to signing.
Nasdaq has obtained fully committed bridge financing for the cash portion of the consideration and plans to issue approximately $5.9B of debt between signing and closing and use the proceeds to replace the bridge commitment.
At the closing of the transaction, Nasdaq will issue the shares to the owners of Adenza, which is a company controlled by Thoma Bravo, representing approximately 14.9% of the outstanding shares of Nasdaq.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close within six to nine months.
Following the Adenza transaction, Nasdaq expects leverage of approximately 4.7x and investment grade ratings of BBB/Baa2 Stable.
Nasdaq is committed to reducing leverage to 4.0x in 18 months and to approximately 3.3x in 36 months. Nasdaq intends to pursue its existing capital deployment plan, including steadily increasing its dividend per share and dividend payout ratio to achieve 35%-38% within three to four years.
The company intends to repurchase shares over time to partially offset dilution from the transaction in addition to continuing to offset employee share-based compensation.
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
ForgeRock to be acquired by Thoma Bravo for $23.25 per share in cash
ForgeRock announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Thoma Bravo for $23.25 per share, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.3B.
The offer represents a premium of approximately 53% over ForgeRock’s closing share price on October 10, the last full trading day prior to the transaction announcement, and a premium of approximately 44% over the volume weighted average price of ForgeRock stock for the 30 days ending October 10.
The transaction, which was unanimously approved by the ForgeRock board of directors, is currently expected to close in the first half of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by ForgeRock’s shareholders and the receipt of required regulatory approvals.
ForgeRock, Inc. operates a digital identity platform to secure, manage, and govern the identities of customers, employees, partners, application programing interfaces (APIs), microservices, devices, and the Internet of things worldwide. It offers identity management products to automate onboarding/registration and progressive profiling, identity lifecycle and relationship management, identity provisioning and synchronization, user self-service, personalization, delegation, and privacy and consent management.
Upon completion of the transaction, ForgeRock’s common stock will no longer be publicly listed and ForgeRock will become a privately held company.
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
Twitter jumps after Musk offers deal on original terms
Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is proposing to buy Twitter (TWTR) for the original offer price of $54.20 per share, Jeff Feeley and Ed Hammond of Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
Elon Musk
Musk made the proposal in a letter to Twitter, sources told Bloomberg. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) moved well off their highs after Bloomberg reported, and CNBC followed, that its CEO Elon Musk is proposing to buy Twitter (TWTR) for the original offer price of $54.20 per share. Shares of Twitter are halted at $47.93 pending news while Tesla shares paired their gains to up about 2% to $247.29.
Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has offered to close his acquisition of Twitter (TWTR) on the terms he originally agreed to, Cara Lombardo and Dana Cimilluca of WSJ report, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Musk’s lawyers communicated the proposal to Twitter’s lawyers overnight Monday and filed a letter confidentially with the Delaware Chancery Court ahead of an emergency hearing on the matter Tuesday, the person said.
The two sides are discussing how to ensure the deal can be closed, according to Lombardo and Cimilluca. The judge overseeing the case requested they come back to her by the end of the day with a potential plan that would allow the litigation to be dropped, a source told the Journal.
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
KnowBe4 confirms receipt of $24 per share proposal from Vista
KnowBe4 (KNBE) confirmed the receipt of a non-binding proposal from Vista Equity Partners to acquire all outstanding shares of the Company for $24 per share in cash.
KnowBe4, Inc. engages in the development, marketing, and sale of its Software-as-a-Service-based security awareness platform. The company provides a platform incorporating security awareness training and simulated phishing with analytics and reporting that helps organizations manage the ongoing problem of social engineering.
The company also offers Security Coach, a solution to address human behavior risks through human detection and response; and PasswordIQ that would be used to mitigate risk related to password hygiene issues, such as weak or breached passwords. It serves its customers directly through inside sales teams for enterprise and small and medium businesses, as well as indirectly through channel partners and managed service providers.
The proposal represents a 39% premium to KnowBe4’s closing price on September 16, 2022.
The Company’s Board of Directors regularly considers opportunities to enhance value for its stockholders.
In response to an inquiry from Vista, the Board formed a special committee of the Board, comprised solely of independent directors, to engage with Vista and take other actions that it deems appropriate, with the assistance of independent financial and legal advisors.
Consistent with its mandate, and in consultation with its legal and financial advisors, the Special Committee will carefully review the Vista proposal and other potential value creation opportunities to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of KnowBe4 and its stockholders.
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
ironSource drops as AppLovin’s Unity bid contingent on ironSource deal exit
Shares of ironSource (IS) are down 12%, to $4.16 in Tuesday morning trading after AppLovin (APP) announced it has submitted a non-binding proposal to the board of directors of Unity Software (U) to combine AppLovin with Unity in a stock-based transaction.
Under the terms offered, current Unity shareholders would receive approximately 55% of the outstanding shares of the combined company, with the Class A shares representing approximately 49% of the outstanding voting rights of the combined company.
AppLovin, which markets software platforms for app developers to help them find customers and bring in revenue, is offering gaming platform Unity an alternative to its recently announced a deal to buy IronSource.
The all-stock merger consideration payable in a mix of AppLovin Class A and Class C common stock would value Unity at$58.85 per share and $20B enterprise value, representing a 48% premium to the Unity share price as of July 12 and 18% to yesterday’s closing price based on the closing price of AppLovin’s Class A common stock on August 8, AppLovin stated.
The execution of a definitive merger agreement between AppLovin and Unity would be subject to approval by each company’s board of directors, the termination of the proposed acquisition of ironSource LTD, and other customary signing conditions, the company noted.
Previously, on July 13, Unity and ironSource had announced that they entered into a definitive agreement under which ironSource will merge into a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unity via an all-stock deal, where each ordinary share of ironSource will be exchanged for 0.1089 shares of Unity common stock.
Under the terms of that deal, current Unity stockholders will own approximately 73.5% and current ironSource shareholders will own approximately 26.5% of the combined company.
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
Unity Software, IronSource to merge in a$4.4B all-stock deal
Unity (U) and ironSource (IS) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which ironSource will merge into a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unity via an all-stock deal, where each ordinary share of ironSource will be exchanged for 0.1089 shares of Unity common stock.
Once closed, current Unity stockholders will own approximately 73.5% and current ironSource shareholders will own approximately 26.5% of the combined company.
The companies’ complementary offerings create a unique end-to-end platform that allows creators to create, publish, run, monetize, and grow live games and RT3D content seamlessly.
The proposed all-stock transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, is expected to close during Unity’s fourth quarter of 2022 and is subject to customary closing conditions, and regulatory and shareholder approval.
The combined company is expected to generate a run rate of $1B in Adjusted EBITDA by the end of 2024.
Six Months Chart of Unity
Unity Cuts Guidance
Unity Software cut FY22 revenue view to $1.3B-$1.35B from $1.35B-$1.425B – FY22 consensus was for $1.47B. Cites current assessment of macro trends, product launch and competitive dynamic with the monetization business.
Unity expects second quarter financial results to be slightly higher than the top end of the guidance range provided during its first quarter earnings call.
Needham
Needham analyst Bernie McTernan downgraded ironSource (IS) to Hold from Buy after the company announced its intent to merge with Unity (U) in an all-stock transaction. The analyst notes that ironSource shares trade at a 8% discount to the implied takeout price.
McTernan adds that the companies’ complementary platform fit, plus profitability that ironSource provides, were reasons for the large premium paid and will likely prevent smaller players from making an over-the-top offer as consolidation continues to be a theme in the mobile ad-tech space.
Piper Sandler
Piper downgrades Unity to Neutral, says ironSource deal creates overhang – Piper Sandler analyst Brent Bracelin downgraded Unity (U) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $34, down from $55, after the company announced a deal to merge with ironSource (IS).
While stating that the pending merger “appears to be a highly strategic acquisition that not only adds material scale and product breadth to the gaming segment but could also help improve profitability,” Bracelin cut his rating based on the near-term overhang that he sees the merger creating as well as increased execution risk over the next six to nine months.
DA Davidson
DA Davidson analyst Franco Granda lowered the firm’s price target on Unity (U) to $60 from $85 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The company’s deal to acquire ironSource (IS) is “very attractive” due to the confluence of revenue and cost synergies, attractive valuation, and highly complementary tech stack amidst a backdrop of privacy-driven platform changes and macro pressures, though his reduced price target reflects lower broader market multiples, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
Ark Investments
Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment bought 1.02M shares of Unity on Wednesday.
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
MaxLinear to acquire Silicon Motion for $114.34 per share consideration
MaxLinear (MXL) and Silicon Motion (SIMO) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which MaxLinear will acquire Silicon Motion in a cash and stock transaction that values the combined company at $8B in enterprise value.
Combined revenues are expected to be more than $2B annually and are supported by the technology breadth to address a total market opportunity of roughly $15B.
The transaction is expected to generate annual run-rate synergies of at least $100M to be realized within 18 months after the transaction closes and is expected to be immediately and materially accretive to MaxLinear’s non-GAAP earnings per share and cash flow.
Under the terms of the definitive agreement, the transaction consideration will consist of $93.54 in cash and 0.388 shares of MaxLinear stock for each Silicon Motion ADS and $23.385 in cash and 0.097 shares of MaxLinear common stock for each Silicon Motion ordinary share not represented by an ADS.
Upon closing of the transaction, MaxLinear shareholders will own approximately 86% of the combined company and Silicon Motion stockholders will own approximately 14% of the combined company.
Based on the closing price of MaxLinear shares on May 4, the implied value of the total transaction consideration for Silicon Motion is $3.8B. MaxLinear intends to fund the $3.1B of cash consideration with cash on hand from the combined companies and fully committed debt financing from Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
The transaction is not subject to any financing conditions and is expected to close by the first half of calendar 2023, pending satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including Silicon Motion shareholders’ approval and regulatory approvals in various jurisdictions.
Silicon Motion Technology Corporation designs, develops, and markets NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices. It offers controllers for computing-grade solid state drives (SSDs), which are used in PCs and other client devices; enterprise-grade SSDs used in data centers; eMMC and UFS mobile embedded storage for use in smartphones and IoT devices; flash memory cards and flash drives for use in expandable storage; and specialized SSDs that are used in industrial, commercial, and automotive applications.
SIMO last traded $96.52. MXL last traded at $44.26.
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
Crane plans to split into two independent public companies
Crane (CR) announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously approved a plan to pursue a separation into two independent, publicly-traded companies to optimize investment and capital allocation, accelerate growth, and unlock shareholder value.
Upon completion, Crane Co.’s shareholders will benefit from ownership in two focused and simplified businesses that are both leaders in their respective industries and well-positioned for continued success:
Crane Co. will be a leading global provider of mission-critical, highly engineered products and solutions, with differentiated technology, respected brands, and leadership positions in its markets.
After the separation, Crane Co. will include the Aerospace & Electronics and Process Flow Technologies businesses.
This year, these businesses are expected to generate approximately $1.9B in annual sales with a pre-corporate Adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 18.5%.
The company will be well-positioned to accelerate organic growth in its large and attractive end markets, benefit from favorable secular trends, and apply its proven processes to drive growth through new product development and commercial excellence.
Richard Teller Crane, Founder of Crane Co.
Crane Co. is expected to have a strong, well-capitalized balance sheet underpinning a capital deployment strategy focused on supporting the company’s organic and inorganic strategic growth objectives, while providing a dividend in-line with peers.
Crane Co. will be led by Max Mitchell, who will continue to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer, with Rich Maue continuing to serve as Chief Financial Officer.
The company intends to continue to be listed on the NYSE under its current ticker symbol, “CR”.
Crane NXT will be a premier Industrial Technology business with substantial global scale, a best-in-class margin profile, and strong free cash flow generation.
This year, the Payment and Merchandising Technologies business that will become Crane NXT is expected to achieve approximately $1.4 billion in sales with a pre-corporate Adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 28%.
In addition to its market leading brands, Crane NXT will differentiate itself through its technology leadership, positioning it to leverage long-term secular drivers including automation, security and productivity, across several high-growth adjacent markets.
After the separation, Crane NXT will be positioned to drive earnings growth through continued investment in the business and value-enhancing bolt-on acquisitions. Its balance sheet and strong free cash flow will also allow it to support a robust and differentiated level of capital return to shareholders that is expected to include a competitive dividend.
Crane NXT’s shares are expected to be listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “CXT”. A process is currently underway to identify Crane NXT’s chief executive, including evaluation of both internal and external candidates.
The executives currently leading Crane’s PMT business will continue to serve in senior positions with Crane NXT.
The separation is expected to occur through a tax-free distribution of the Aerospace & Electronics and Process Flow Technologies businesses to the Company’s shareholders.
Payment & Merchandising Technologies will be renamed Crane NXT concurrent with the separation, and the Aerospace & Electronics and Process Flow Technologies businesses will retain the Crane Co. name.
Upon completion of the separation, shareholders will own 100% of the equity in both of the publicly traded companies.
The separation is expected to be completed within approximately 12 months of this announcement, subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions and final approval of the separation by Crane Co.’s Board of Directors. Shareholder approval is not required.
Crane Co. will maintain its current capital deployment policies until the separation is completed.
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
Brookfield Business Partners enters partnership to acquire Nielsen in $16B deal
Brookfield Business Partners (BBU) announced it has entered into a partnership to acquire Nielsen Holdings plc (NLSN) in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $16B.
Nielsen Holdings operates as a measurement and data analytics company worldwide. The company provides viewership and listening data, and analytics principally to media publishers and marketers, and advertising agencies for television, computer, mobile, CTV, digital, and listening platforms.
The companies said, investment highlights include, “Market-leading position. Nielsen is a global leader in audience measurement and a trusted partner to its customers across the entire media ecosystem.
The Company has more than 50 years of statistically significant historical data and its scale is unmatched by competitors.
Nielsen’s measurement data underpins the $100+ billion video and audio advertising markets and its measurement data is the established industry standard by which video and audio advertising spend transacts. Resilient performance and outlook.
The Company’s history of consistent growth is driven by its valued offering and longstanding customer relationships.
Nielsen’s scale and existing market position should support the Company’s ability to consistently grow its measurement business.
Value creation potential. Nielsen is well positioned to be the leader in cross-media measurement as audience viewership behavior continues to evolve.
The development and adoption of Nielsen ONE, Nielsen’s cross-media measurement service, will deliver a unified measure of consumer viewership across all media and support the Company’s growth strategy.”
Brookfield will invest approximately $2.65B by way of preferred equity, convertible into 45% of Nielsen’s common equity. Brookfield will be actively involved in the Company’s governance.
Brookfield Business Partners expects to invest approximately $600M, and the balance of Brookfield’s investment will be funded from institutional partners.
Prior to or following closing, a portion of Brookfield Business Partners’ commitment may be syndicated to other institutional investors.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second half of 2022.
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
Ancora pushes Everbridge for sale, sees over $70 per share takeout value
Everbridge, Inc. (EVBG) operates as a software company, providing enterprise software applications that automate and accelerate organizations operational response to critical events in the United States and internationally. The company has a market cap of around $1.6B.
Ancora Holdings Group, which owns approximately 4% of Everbridge’s outstanding common stock, issued an open letter to the company’s board.
It states in part: “We have spent a considerable amount of time reviewing Everbridge’s corporate governance, executive compensation, operations and sales, and overall strategy.
Given the immense destruction of shareholder value that has occurred under the current leadership team, we call on the Board of Directors to commence an immediate exploration of strategic alternatives.
We believe Everbridge is dramatically undervalued at current stock prices, and a sale to a well-capitalized acquirer could deliver more than $70 per share, or a more than 90% premium, for shareholders based on recent valuation multiples for both public and private company peers…
We believe Everbridge is a valuable strategic asset addressing a mission critical need in a large market with vast upside potential.
We believe Everbridge is dramatically undervalued at current share prices, representing an attractive acquisition target to both strategic and financial buyers.
In our view, the issues the Company is facing are not structural, but rather self-inflicted due to incompetent leadership that has failed to execute.”
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
Google to acquire Mandiant for $23.00 per share in cash
Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Mandiant (MNDT) for $23.00 per share, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $5.4B, inclusive of Mandiant’s net cash.
Upon the close of the acquisition, Mandiant will join Google Cloud.
With the addition of Mandiant, Google Cloud will enhance offerings to deliver an end-to-end security operations suite with even greater capabilities to support customers across their cloud and on-premise environments.
The acquisition of Mandiant is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of Mandiant stockholder and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close later this year.
Piper Sandler
Piper Sandler analyst Thomas Champion said he thinks the deal makes strategic sense given Google’s move further into the Enterprise. The Mandiant acquisition should complement Google Cloud Platform’s current security offerings, which include BeyondCorp Enterprise and VirusTotal, said Champion, who reiterates his Overweight rating and $3,475 price target on Alphabet shares.
Wedbush
Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives notes that this deal is all about Mandiant being further integrated into Google Cloud with more cyber threats facing enterprises/governments on the transformational shift to cloud and Mandiant establishing itself as “the Navy Seals of cyber security” over the last decade, the analyst contends.
#Ives believes this deal will have a major ripple impact across the cyber security space as cloud stalwarts Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) will now be pressured into M&A and further bulk up its cloud platforms.
The analyst thinks cyber names such as Varonis (VRNS), Tenable (TENB), CyberArk (CYBR), Qualys (QLYS), Rapid7 (RPD), SailPoint (SAIL), and Ping (PING) standout as potential M&A candidates in cyber security given these vendors laser focus on protecting next generation cloud workloads from cyberattacks.
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
Epam Systems withdraws Q1, FY22 guidance due to events in Ukraine
EPAM Systems (EPAM) announced it is withdrawing its first quarter and 2022 financial outlook due to heightened uncertainties and regional impacts resulting from military actions in Ukraine.
EPAM Systems, Inc. provides digital platform engineering and software development services in North America, Europe, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Georgia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
“EPAM’s highest priority is the safety and security of its employees and their families in Ukraine. The company is proactively working to relocate its employees to lower risk locations in Ukraine and neighboring countries.
The company is executing business continuity plans and accelerating hiring across multiple locations in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, and India.
EPAM continues to operate productively in more than 40 countries and is committed to providing consistent high-quality delivery in all our geographies around the world,” the company said.
Shares of the Newton Pennsylvania company are down 46% to $207.75. Stock has a 52-week trading range of $198.25 to $725.40. Today’s loss took the shares back to 2020 levels, wiping out two years of gains.
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
Citrix to be acquired by Vista, Evergreen in $16.5B all-cash transaction
Citrix (CTXS) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement under which affiliates of Vista Equity Partners, a global investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses, and Evergreen, an affiliate of Elliott, will acquire Citrix in an all-cash transaction valued at $16.5B, including the assumption of Citrix debt.
Under the terms of the agreement, Citrix shareholders will receive $104.00 in cash per share.
The per share purchase price represents a premium of 30% over the company’s unaffected 5-day VWAP as of December 7, 2021, the last trading day before market speculation regarding a potential transaction, and a premium of 24% over the closing price on December 20, 2021, the last trading day prior to media reports regarding a potential bid from Vista and Evergreen.
In connection with the transaction, Vista and Evergreen intend to combine Citrix and Tibco Software, one of Vista’s portfolio companies.
Citrix makes software that workers use to log onto to their corporate programs virtually, a category of product extensively relied upon during the pandemic as businesses sought quick ways to keep remote workforces connected to central operations. Many are now planning permanent hybrid setups for home and office working, which is expected to grow the market for tools that help make this seamless.
As part of the transaction, Vista and Evergreen plan to combine Citrix with Tibco Software, an enterprise data management firm that’s one of Vista’s portfolio companies. The combination will create one of the world’s largest software providers, serving 400,000 customers, according to the statement.
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
Mimecast discloses ‘non-binding expression of interest’ at $92.50 in go-shop
In a regulatory filing earlier, Mimecast (MIME) disclosed that it received, and rejected, a $92.50 per share proposal from a group identified in its proxy materials as “Portfolio Company A.”
The filing states: “On December 31, 2021, Portfolio Company A submitted to the Special Committee a non-binding expression of interest to acquire all outstanding ordinary shares of Mimecast at a price of $92.50 per share in cash, subject to completion of customary due diligence.
This expression of interest did not include the proposed quantum of debt and equity financing or copies of debt commitment letters or whether offers for debt commitments had been secured.
Portfolio Company A indicated that it was likely Portfolio Company A could pay a higher price following access to due diligence information… Immediately following the special joint meeting of the Special Committee and the Company Board held on January 6, 2022, representatives of Goodwin advised outside counsel to Portfolio Company A that the Company Board had determined that priority financial, legal and customer due diligence information would not be provided at such time and that consistent with the Special Committee’s position that had been conveyed on multiple occasions since November 2, 2021, Financial Sponsor A and Portfolio Company A needed to satisfy the Special Committee and its antitrust advisors that the antitrust risks for such a transaction would not subject Mimecast shareholders to substantial timing and execution risk due to expected scrutiny from antitrust regulators.
Counsel for Portfolio Company A did not share any additional information or analyses regarding the antitrust process for a transaction between Mimecast and Portfolio Company A or the timing and execution risk due to expected scrutiny from antitrust regulators.
Portfolio Company A also did not elect to submit any further or updated indication of interest or provide a markup of the antitrust-related provisions in the Permira Transaction Agreement (or clarify its position with respect thereto).
At 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time on January 6, 2021, the go-shop period set forth in the Transaction Agreement expired.”
Mimecast jumped 6% on December 7th after the cybersecurity company announced it was being acquired by private-equity firm Permira for $80 a share in cash or $5.8 billion.
That bidder, according to a report Bloomberg’s Ed Hammond, is Proofpoint, which was taken private last year by Thoma Bravo.
Mimecast Limited, a British company, provides cloud security and risk management services for corporate information and email.
This is how ProofPoint describes itself “Email, social media, and mobile devices are the tools of your trade—and for cyber criminals, the tools of attack. Proofpoint protects your people, data and brand against advanced threats and compliance risks.”
This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.
