Robert F. Smith’s Vista Equity Partners has signed off another lucrative multi-billion-dollar deal.
The private equity firm has teamed up with Blackstone, another private equity firm, to acquire Smartsheet— an enterprise platform for modern work management — for nearly $8.4B in an all-cash transaction.
According to the press release, upon closing the proposed transaction, the Buyers would acquire all the outstanding shares held by Smartsheet shareholders for $56.50 per share in cash.
“For over 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. 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,” said Mark Mader, CEO of Smartsheet.
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“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,” said Monti Saroya, Co-Head of Vista’s Flagship Fund and Senior Managing Director, and John Stalder, Managing Director at Vista. “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.”
“This transaction is a testament to our employees’ outstanding work 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.”
Martin Brand, Head of North America Private Equity and Global Co-Head of Technology Investing at Blackstone, and Sachin Bavishi, a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, also said, “Across increasingly distributed, cross-functional and global workforces, Smartsheet’s innovative and market-leading solutions are mission-critical in helping teams collaborate at scale to achieve superior results. We are excited to partner with Smartsheet’s management team to drive long-term growth by leveraging our and our partner Vista’s combined scale and resources to accelerate investments in the next generation of work management solutions.”
Blackstone is investing in Smartsheet through its flagship private equity vehicle and private equity strategy for individual investors. The New York-based company provides mergers and acquisitions advice as well as private equity fund and hedge fund management; it is perhaps best known for its real estate investments.
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About Smartsheet
Smartsheet is a software-as-a-service offering for collaboration and work management. It uses a tabular user interface to assign tasks, track project progress, manage calendars, share documents, and manage other work.
The modern enterprise work management platform is trusted by millions of people at companies worldwide, including approximately 85% of the 2024 Fortune 500 companies. As a pioneer and market leader in this category, Smartsheet delivers robust solutions that fuel performance and drive the next wave of innovation.
The deal is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2025, pending certain conditions, including approval by Smartsheet’s shareholders. Smartsheet’s board of directors, which unanimously approved the merger, encourages this decision.
The news release states that once the deal has closed, Smartsheet will transition to a privately held company and maintain operations under the Smartsheet name and brand.
