Business management software provider Smartsheet to be taken private in $8.4 billion deal

Smartsheet Inc., a company that owns a popular work management platform of the same name, today announced It was announced It has reportedly agreed to be acquired by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners in an $8.4 billion deal.

Investors in the software maker will receive $56.50 in cash for each share, representing a 41% premium to Smartsheet’s volume-weighted average stock price over the past 90 days. The takeover bid is not unexpected: Reports of Smartsheet’s efforts to attract a takeover bid first It turned out In July.

Smartsheet’s platform is used by over 13 million professionals to coordinate their daily work. It’s built around a project management tool that allows managers to track their teams’ unfinished tasks, each task’s due date, and related details. This information can be viewed as a spreadsheet or in the form of visualizations, such as a timeline view that organizes to-do items by urgency.

Customers also have access to a variety of time-saving features. One of these features makes it possible to create automation workflows that can perform simple tasks without manual input. For example, an administrator can configure Smartsheet to notify members of the help desk team when a high-priority technical support ticket is assigned to them.

Over the years, the company has expanded its focus beyond business management into a number of other areas. One feature it offers with its platform is the ability to automatically synchronize business data to other services. Another capability is a low-code development tool that allows users to create simple business applications.

Over the past two years, AI has emerged as a major focus of Smartsheet’s feature development roadmap. Last July, the company announced appeared on stage for the first time a tool that lets employees convert business data into graphs with natural language commands. Another built-in AI tool can automatically summarize long documents.

Smartsheet generates $276.4 million in revenue last quarter17% higher than the same period a year ago. During that same time period, the number of organizations spending more than $1 million annually on its platform increased by 50% to 77. The company’s customer base includes more than 90% of the Fortune 500 and a long list of other organizations.

“We are confident that the expertise and resources of Blackstone and Vista will help us ensure that Smartsheet continues to be a great place to work where our employees thrive, foster innovation and deliver even greater value for customers and stakeholders,” said Mark Mader, Smartsheet Chief Executive Officer.

Blackstone and Vista’s bid for Smartsheet provides for a 45-day shopping period. The software maker has until Nov. 8 to seek other bids. If no higher bid is received and the other closing conditions of the deal are met, Smartsheet will go private next February.

Image: Smartsheet