Blackstone Inc. agreed to buy event software company Cvent Holding Corp. in a deal with an enterprise value of about $4.6 billion.
(Bloomberg) — Blackstone Inc. agreed to buy event software company Cvent Holding Corp. in a deal with an enterprise value of about $4.6 billion.
Under terms of the agreement announced Tuesday morning, Cvent shareholders will receive $8.50 a share in cash, a premium of 52% to the weighted average share price over 90 days prior to Jan. 30, when media reports of a potential transaction were published. A subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will be a significant minority investor in the deal, according to the filing.
Cvent, which provides software to manage live and virtual events, has been in private hands before, after Vista Equity Partners purchased the Tysons, Virginia-based company in 2016 for about $1.65 billion. Two years ago, Cvent agreed to merge with special-purpose acquisition company Dragoneer Growth Opportunities Corp. II, which gave it a public listing again.
Cvent’s shares are up 37% this year through Monday as the company benefits from renewed interest in travel and events after years of pent-up demand during the pandemic. The company has about 22,000 customers globally in the corporate, nonprofit, higher education and hospitality sectors.
“Blackstone brings deep expertise in the event and hospitality industry, and with their backing, we plan to continue to invest in our business and deliver the innovative solutions that meet our customers’ needs and power the meetings and events ecosystem,” said Cvent Chief Executive Officer Reggie Aggarwal.
As part of the the transaction, Vista, which has retained a majority shareholder of Cvent, agreed to invest a portion of its proceeds as non-convertible preferred stock in financing for the deal.
(Updates with more details of the deal from second paragraph.)
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