Thoma Bravo Shells Out $10.7 Billion for Anaplan, Far Above Market Value

Thoma Bravo is acquiring Anaplan, the business planning software company, worth about $10.7 billion. And speculation has started that Everbridge could be the next acquisition target.

Thoma Bravo’s offer represents a 45% premium over Anaplan’s value on March 18. When complete, Anaplan will become a privately held company.

Anaplan’s board of directors unanimously approved the acquisition. The deal should close in the first half of 2022 subject to customary closing conditions. Those include approval by Anaplan stockholders and regulatory approval.

Upon completion, Anaplan’s common stock will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Frank Calderoni is Anaplan‘s chairman and CEO.

Anaplan’s Frank Calderoni

“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,” he said “This is a clear validation of our team’s outstanding work and the start of an exciting new chapter for Anaplan, our customers and our partner ecosystem. We are confident that Thoma Bravo’s resources and insights will help us accelerate and scale our growth strategy.”

Activist Investor Wants Everbridge to Find a Buyer

Activist investors have taken stakes in both Anaplan and Everbridge. According to CNBC, activist investor Ancora Holdings sent a letter to Everybridge’s board urging the company to find a buyer rather than trying to hire a new CEO. In December, former Everbridge CEO David Meredith resigned, leaving interim co-CEOs at the helm.

Everbridge said it maintains regular and open communication with its investors, and “we value all input that advances our shared goal of enhancing shareholder value.”

“As a matter of practice, we do not comment on engagements with individual investors, but we will review Ancora’s perspectives as we do with those of all shareholders,” it said.

Given the recent change in leadership and developments in its business, Everbridge‘s board and management team undertook a comprehensive review of its strategy and operations to ensure the company is best positioned for the future.

“Going forward, we are taking action to improve on our strategic direction, go-to-market execution and efficiency,” the company said.

Everbridge is:

• Pausing material new M&A and focusing on accelerating integration across its existing assets for greater competitive differentiation, product simplification and lower cost.
• Simplifying product offerings to focus on its four strategic critical event management (CEM) solutions and drive higher productivity over time.
• Leveraging win rates to drive land-and-expand opportunities in the public warning market.
• Conducting a search for a permanent CEO, considering both internal and external candidates.

Thoma Bravo to Support Anaplan’s Future Growth

Thoma Bravo last year acquired Proofpoint. It also acquired Sophos in 2020.

Holden Spaht is a managing partner at Thoma Bravo.

“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,” he said. “We have followed Anaplan for years and have seen the incredible value they bring customers through their best-in-class planning platform. We look forward to leveraging Thoma Bravo’s extensive operational and investment expertise in enterprise software to support Anaplan in its future growth.”