Thoma Bravo to acquire software company Anaplan for $10.7B

U. S. enterprise software maker Anaplan Inc. said it had agreed to be taken private by Thoma Bravo LP for $10.7 billion as another sign of increasing private equity interest in the cloud-based software sector.

The acquisition would give Anaplan investors $66 for each share held, a premium of over 30% more than the firm’s last closing price on Friday. The valuation is based on Anaplan’s 161.5 million fully diluted shares.

The acquisition, which Anaplan’s board has approved, is expected to be finalized in the first half of 2022, and the firm will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) following its completion.

Anaplan makes software that helps businesses model various forecasting outcomes and has over 1,900 customers worldwide. Its revenue increased by about a third in the year to Jan. 31, while losses widened. The San Francisco-based company sells subscriptions for cloud-based business planning software and provides analytics services to customers, including Vodafone and Zillow.

The vastly leveraged buyout is the latest in the software sector, whose rapid growth during the COVID-19 pandemic has attracted interest from private equity partners.

In February 2022, software firm Citrix Systems announced it would be taken private for $16.5 billion, including debt by Vista Equity Partners and Elliott Management affiliates.