It’s uncommon for significant tech news to break on a Sunday night, but that’s exactly what occurred last night when private equity company Thoma Bravo revealed its $10.7 billion acquisition of Anaplan, a SaaS financial planning tool. On Friday, the company’s market capitalization was $7.4 billion. Anaplan’s stock has been on a downward trend over the past six months, with a price drop of more than 22%. It’s down 7% in the previous year, but the private equity group spotted an opportunity and snatched it, offering Anaplan near to its top price in the last six months to seal the acquisition.
Revenue increased by nearly 30% to $163 million in the company’s most recent financial report earlier this month, while losses increased to $53.8 million, compared to $41.5 million in the same period previous year. Anaplan forecasted somewhat higher sales for the coming quarter, and the stock has been rising since the announcement. Private equity companies like that 30 percent growth rate because it gives them something to work with. Holden Spaht, Thoma Bravo’s managing partner, appreciates having the financial planning service on board and believes his company can help it develop even more.
“We’ve been following Anaplan for years and have seen firsthand the tremendous value they provide to their clients through their best-in-class planning platform. In a statement, Spaht stated, “We look forward to using Thoma Bravo’s substantial operational and investment expertise in enterprise software to help Anaplan in its future expansion.”
That’s a lot of executive language for saying they like the firm, have been following it for years, and jumped at the chance when it came up. For a brief while between 2016 and 2018, Anaplan was a hot firm, providing a more contemporary approach for businesses to undertake financial planning and reporting without relying on Excel spreadsheets.
It began in 2006 and has since raised about $300 million. Its last fundraising was $60 million at a $1.5 billion value, which may seem little now, but was a huge deal in 2017. In 2018, the firm went public amid considerable excitement, closing up 42 percent on the first day. The transaction is scheduled to conclude in the first half of this year, although it is subject to regulatory clearance and stockholder approval. The deal has previously been approved by the Anaplan board of directors. In pre-trading, Anaplan stock is up more than 7.5 percent.
