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After the acquisition, Citrix will merge with Vista portfolio company Tibco to become one of the world’s largest software providers.
Citrix, the US cloud software giant, is being acquired in a $16.5bn deal by affiliates of Vista Equity Partners and Elliott Investment Management.
Announced today (31 January), the all-cash acquisition that includes Citrix debt will see the SaaS giant merge with Tibco, a Vista portfolio company, to enhance its digital workspace platform.
The publicly traded company will go private, allowing it to increase investment and expand its platform for secure, hybrid work. Shareholders will receive a 30pc premium to Citrix’s closing share price on 7 December.
Tim Minahan, executive vice-president of business strategy at Citrix, said that going private is the “best path forward” for shareholders, customers and employees. The company has been reportedly considering a sale since at least 2017, when it worked with Goldman Sachs to seek potential buyers.
“As a private company, Citrix will have increased financial and strategic flexibility to invest in high-growth opportunities that fuel innovation and accelerate our transition to a company with predictable growth and strong profit margins,” Minahan said.
‘Game changer’
According to the company, the acquisition deal and merger with Tibco will create one of the world’s largest software providers serving 400,000 customers, including almost all Fortune 500 companies and 100m users in 100 countries.
Tibco is an enterprise data management company that aims to help customers connect, unify and predict business outcomes. Its real-time intelligent data and analytics are expected to help boost Citrix’s digital workspace technology.
“The combination of Tibco with Citrix will be a game changer,” Minahan said. “With the addition of Tibco’s connected intelligence capabilities and solutions, we can enhance our digital workspace platform and the results we help our customers to achieve.”
The transaction is expected to close in mid-2022, subject to approval from Citrix shareholders and regulators. After the acquisition is complete, Citrix will no longer be traded on Nasdaq and will continue to operate under its name as a private company from its headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Dan Streetman, chief executive of Tibco, said that there has “never been a better time to be in the business of connected intelligent analytics” and that he is excited to bring what Tibco has to offer to Citrix customers.
“The workplace has changed forever, and companies everywhere will require real-time access to faster, smarter insights from the increasingly large volumes of data available to them, their employees, and their ecosystems,” he said.
A year ago, Citrix acquired cloud-based project management platform Wrike, which has its European headquarters in Dublin, for $2.25bn.
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