Thoma Bravo to Take Anaplan (PLAN) Private in a $10.7 Billion Deal, Valuation Seen as 'Highly Opportunistic and Advantageous'

A private equity and growth capital firm Thoma Bravo is acquiring Anaplan (NYSE: PLAN) for $10.7 billion, two companies said.

Shareholders of Anaplan are expected to receive $66 a share in cash, representing a 30.5% premium compared to Friday’s closing price.

Founded in 2006, Anaplan develops business planning software that allows companies to integrate and analyze data within a single platform, enabling clients to make data-driven decisions.

Today, Anaplan has over 1,900 customers around the globe, including numerous big names such as Coca-Cola, Shell, Adobe, Vodafone, and others. Anaplan CEO Frank Calderoni will continue leading the business planning software company.

“We are thrilled to partner with Thoma Bravo to build on the strength of our innovative platform and capitalize on the massive opportunity and incredible demand we are seeing,” Calderoni, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, commented.

The demand for business-planning software tools has been on the rise over the past couple of years and has received an additional boost following a coronavirus outbreak, said Calderoni.

The acquisition of Anaplan is the latest major take-private deal in the software sector after investment firms made several big acquisitions over the past several months.

Vista Equity Partners and the private-equity arm of Elliott Management Corp. acquired Citrix Systems for roughly $13 billion in January. In November, Advent International Corp. and Permira bought McAfee Corp. for $12 billion.

“Anaplan is a clear leader in Connected Planning, solving critical business priorities for the world’s largest enterprises as they implement strategic and complex digital transformations,” said Holden Spaht, a Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo.

After the deal is closed, Thoma Bravo said it will use Anaplan as a platform to make new acquisitions.

Needham & Company analyst Scott Berg downgraded PLAN to Hold from Buy.

“We think Thoma Bravo was attracted to PLAN's strong product position in a large TAM and an expected FY23 30% growth rate. Given these product strengths, an end-market in the early stages of SaaS penetration, and recent operational improvements, we view the price as highly opportunistic and advantageous for Thoma Bravo. Given our historical exposure to Thoma Bravo acquisitions of Enterprise Software companies, we expect a go-shop period, but do not expect superior offers to emerge,” Berg wrote in a client note.

By Senad Karaahmetovic

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