Robert F. Smith’s Vista Equity Partners has signed off on a multi-billion-dollar deal.
According to a news release, the private equity firm that has more than $100 billion in assets under management, has agreed to acquire Smartsheet— an enterprise platform for modern work management — alongside Blackstone for nearly $8.4B in an all-cash transaction. Per the agreement, the buyers would acquire all outstanding shares held by Smartsheet stockholders for $56.50 per share in cash once the proposed transaction is completed.
“For more than a decade, we have built a thriving community of employees, partners, and customers, each focused on building and benefiting from Smartsheet’s industry-leading work management platform,” Mark Mader, CEO of Smartsheet, said in the press release. “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. This transaction is a testament to our employees’ outstanding work in serving customers and partners, and building an enterprise-grade, market-leading platform. As we look to the future, we are confident that Blackstone and Vista’s expertise and resources will help us ensure Smartsheet remains a great place to work where our employees thrive, while driving innovation and delivering even greater value for customers and stakeholders.”
Monti Saroya, co-head of Vista’s Flagship Fund and senior managing director, and John Stalder, managing director at Vista, commented:
“Modern enterprises rely on Smartsheet’s simple and scalable solutions to manage a diverse range of business-critical processes every single day because they enable seamless collaboration, enhanced productivity, and faster and more informed decision-making. We look forward to partnering closely with Blackstone and Smartsheet to support its ambitious goal of making its platform accessible for every organization, team, and worker relying on collaborative work to achieve successful outcomes.”
The deal is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2025, pending certain conditions including being approved by Smartsheet’s shareholders, and this decision is being encouraged by Smartsheet’s board of directors who unanimously approved the merger.
Once the deal has closed, Smartsheet will transition to a privately held company and will maintain operations under the name and brand, the news release states.
