The experience management company Qualtricswhich was listed on the stock market since 2021, will once again be a private company, since the investment fund in technology companies Silver Lake has confirmed that it will buy it for 12,500 million of dollars, in an agreement in which Canada’s largest pension fund, CPP Investments, also participates.
The price to be paid for the company is 73% of the highest price for Qualtrics shares, which was reached at the end of last January. Silver Lake, which already owns 4% of the company, will pay the promised amount for the rest of the shares in cash.
Until now Qualtrics was owned by SAP, which paid $8 billion for it in 2019. Two years later, SAP created a spinoff with it, and took it public. With their IPO, they raised $1.55 billion. But last January, in addition to communicating that they were going to lay off 2.5% of their workforce, the company announced that they were going to explore the possibilities of selling Qualtrics, which has not taken too long to find a buyer.
Once the sale process is closed during the second half of this year, Qualtrics, founded in 2002, will continue to have its headquarters in Provo (Utah) and Seattle (Washington), where it has a thousand employees. In total, Qualtrics has 28 offices around the world. Its CEO, Zig SerafinHe will also continue to lead the company.
Under the terms of the purchase agreement, Qualtrics shareholders, including SAP, will receive $18.15 in cash per share. The transaction will be fully funded by equity commitments from Silver Lake and the joint investors in the transaction, with $1.75 billion in CPP Investments equity and $1 billion in debt. Qualtrics’ Board of Directors, as well as the company’s Independent Directors Committee, have approved the transaction. So has SAP, as the majority shareholder of Qualtrics.
Zig Serafin has highlighted from this agreement that “Qualtrics is becoming crucial for companies to make critical customer and employee decisions that increase revenue and efficiencies in operations. With the AI-powered platform and automated actions, we help businesses deliver exceptional experiences and build deep relationships at scale with their customers and employees. We are delighted to partner with the Silver Lake team, who has a deep understanding of our business and will help us continue to build a high-performing company, invest in our innovation, and expand our ecosystem to help our customers succeed.»
Egon Durban, CoCEO of Silver Lakehas stressed that they firmly believe «on the incredible technology platform that Ryan, Zig, and their engineering and sales teams are developing.” They also point out their joy for “Support Qualtrics’ continued efficient growth into a highly profitable, generational platform company, activating further investment in all aspects of the business, including areas such as AI and other powerful new technologies. This is a landmark transaction for Silver Lake, reflecting our confidence in the team and their vision.«.
