Anaplan , a provider of business-planning software, agreed to be acquired by private-equity firm Thoma Bravo for $66 a share, or $10.7 billion.
The offer is a premium of about 46% to the volume weighted average price of Anaplan stock for the five days ended March 18, the companies said in a press release.
Shares of Anaplan (ticker: PLAN) were jumping 28% to $64.79 in premarket trading Monday. The stock closed Friday at $50.59. Prior to Monday, the shares have risen 10.3% year to date but have fallen nearly 7% over the past one year.
“We think the transaction valuation is reasonable for a company we expected to grow revenue at greater than a 30% annual rate in FY23 with a leading position in a large market opportunity,” wrote Needham analyst Scott Berg in a research note Monday.
Berg views the price as “highly opportunistic and advantageous” for Thoma Bravo, which likely was attracted by Anaplan’s strong product position in a large market and recent operational improvements, he added.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2022. Anaplan will become a privately held company once the deal closes.
Berg downgraded shares of Anaplan to Hold from Buy. Based on Thoma Bravo’s other enterprise software acquisition, Berg said he expects a go-shop period but doesn’t expect a superior offer to emerge.
The acquisition “is a clear validation of our team’s outstanding work and the start of an exciting new chapter for Anaplan, our customers, and our partner ecosystem,” said Anaplan Chairman and Chief Executive Frank Calderoni. “We are confident that Thoma Bravo’s resources and insights will help us accelerate and scale our growth strategy.”
Calderoni plans to continue to lead Anaplan, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news of the acquisition. Berg wasn’t surprised Calderoni planned to remain with the company, saying the executive’s strategy was “beginning to bear positive fruit.”
The purchase of Anaplan continues a string of private-equity purchases of software companies. The most recent was Citrix Systems
(CTXS), the cloud computing company, which reached a deal in late January to be bought for $16.5 billion, including debt, by Elliott Management and Vista Equity Partners.
Write to Joe Woelfel at [email protected]
