Vista Equity Partners to Take EngageSmart Private for $4B in Cash

Vista Equity Partners, an investment firm specializing in enterprise software, data, and tech-enabled businesses, has agreed to acquire EngageSmart Inc., a payments software company, in a $4 billion all-cash transaction.

EngageSmart stockholders will receive $23 per share, representing a premium of approximately 23% to EngageSmart’s closing price on October 4.

The agreement includes a 30-day “go-shop” period that will expire on November 22, which permits the Special Committee and its financial advisors to solicit and consider alternative acquisition proposals.

Upon completion of the transaction, affiliates of Vista will hold approximately 65% and affiliates of private equity firm General Atlantic, which currently owns a 52% stake, will hold about 35% of the outstanding equity.

In 2018, General Atlantic acquired a majority stake in EngageSmart, formerly known as Invoice Cloud. Summit Partners, an existing investor, currently holds a 14% stake.

“We continue to see attractive growth and customer retention in our vertically tailored SaaS solutions—a testament to the strength of our business model and our leading products,” said Bob Bennett, EngageSmart CEO.

The Braintree, MA-based EngageSmart offers SaaS services, including SimplePractice, InvoiceCloud and DonorDrive, that are designed to simplify customers’ activities with their clients such as paying a bill.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024.

Vista had over $101 billion in assets under management as of June 30. The firm exclusively invests in enterprise software, data and tech-enabled companies across private equity, permanent capital, credit and public equity strategies.