US: Meetings, events and hospitality technology provider Cvent has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Blackstone at an enterprise value of $4.6 billion.
Blackstone has received a $1 billion credit facility as part of the financing of the transaction. A wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) will be a significant minority investor alongside Blackstone.
Vista Equity Partners, majority stockholder of Cvent, has agreed to invest a portion of its proceeds as non-convertible preferred stock in financing for the deal.
As part of the agreement, Cvent stockholders will receive $8.50 per share in cash. This represents a premium of around 52 per cent on the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) in the three-month period leading to the end of January. VWAP is a trading benchmark used to determine the price of a financial asset, calculated by taking the total dollar of trading in the security and dividing it by the volume of trades.
“Since Vista first invested, Cvent has undertaken considerable business transformation and has been a testament to how we partner with founders like Reggie to help their businesses scale and thrive,” said Monti Saroya, co-head of the Vista Flagship Fund and senior managing director. “The newly digitised events landscape, coupled with Cvent’s strong existing customer base and commitment to innovation, has provided a new growth vector in a post-Covid world. We look forward to seeing the company continue to execute on the opportunities ahead of it.”
Reggie Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Cvent, said: “We are excited to share this announcement and look forward to our next chapter alongside the Blackstone team. As one of the world’s largest private equity firms, Blackstone brings deep expertise in the event and hospitality industry, and with their backing, we plan to continue to invest in our business and deliver the innovative solutions that meet our customers’ needs and power the meetings and events ecosystem.”
David Schwartz, senior managing director at Blackstone, said: “The continued events and travel recovery is one of Blackstone’s highest-conviction investment themes. Given our extensive experience in the hospitality, events and real estate sectors, we believe Blackstone is well positioned as a growth partner for this exceptional business.”
Since its founding in 1999, Cvent has helped manage more than five million events and lists over 302,000 hotels and venues (as of 31 December 2022) on the Cvent Supplier Network – an online platform with tools to search, negotiate and contract with hotels and venues for event space.
The transaction is expected to close mid-year 2023. Upon completion, Cvent’s common stock will no longer be publicly listed and Cvent will become a privately held company.
