Mar 21, 2022 - Economy

Thoma Bravo to buy business software provider Anaplan

Dan Primack

Illustration of an infinite stack of Wall St. bulls. — Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

Thoma Bravo agreed to buy Anaplan, a San Francisco-based provider of business planning and performance management software, for around $10.7 billion.

Why it's the BFD: This reflects how the correction in cloud software stocks is making the sector more attractive to investors. Not just LBO firms, but also activists — including a group that last week disclosed a 9% stake in Anaplan and said they'd nominate four directors to the company's board.

Details: The offer is for $66 per share in cash, representing a 30.46% premium over Friday's closing price and a 46% premium to the five-day weighted average. Anaplan, which went public in 2018, last traded above $66 in September 2021.

Thoma Bravo hit up the private debt market for most of its requisite financing, as the syndicated loans market has been slowed by the Ukraine crisis.

Background: Deal talks long preceded the activist push, Axios has learned, with Anaplan and Thoma Bravo first discussing a possible tie-up via a Zoom call last December.

The bottom line: "Prior to this year's market swoon, activists largely avoided cloud companies. The stocks, for the most part, dramatically outperformed the market for several years, leaving little opportunity to unlock value. And most companies in the space don't possess the level of operating profit that activists prefer." — CNBC

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Thoma Bravo to buy business software provider Anaplan

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