Blackstone, Vista Equity Partners to Pay $8.4B for Smartsheet
Private equity firms Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners agreed to acquire Smartsheet, a cloud-based work management platform, for approximately $8.4 billion in cash.
Smartsheet shareholders will receive $56.50 per share, which is approximately 41% higher than the volume-weighted average closing price of Smartsheet stock for the 90 trading days preceding July 17, prior to media coverage of the potential transaction.
The deal includes a 45-day go shop period, which allows Smartsheet to solicit other potential acquirers, that expires on November 8. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Smartsheet’s fiscal year ending Jan. 31.
Launched in 2005, Bellevue, WA-based Smartsheet is a platform for managing and tracking projects, collaborating, storing data, and automating and assigning tasks, among other capabilities. It serves 85% of the Fortune 500 as customers.
The company reported its fiscal second quarter earnings earlier this month. Revenue increased 17% to $276.4 million. The company’s operating loss was $8.5 million, versus a loss of $36.1 million in the same period a year ago.
“Our next phase of growth and customer success is underway, and we look forward to partnering with Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners to accelerate our vision of modernizing work management for enterprises, globally,” Smartsheet CEO Mark Mader.
Vista Equity Partners, an Austin, TX-based firm with over $100 billion in assets, has previously acquired other publicly traded Seattle-area tech companies. In October 2002, the firm paid $8.4 billion for Avalara and $1.9 billion for Apptio in 2019 (Apptio was sold to IBM in June 2023 for $4.6 billion). Currently, Vista has a 4.7% stake in Smartsheet.
Blackstone, meanwhile, recently acquired Seattle-based pet-sitting company Rover in a $2.3 billion deal.
Qatalyst Partners is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Smartsheet. Fenwick & West LLP is acting as legal counsel to Smartsheet.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are acting as financial advisors and Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP are acting as legal counsel to Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners.