Citrix, tech employer of hundreds in Raleigh, bought in deal worth $16.5B
Citrix Systems, the software company whose technology helps enable remote work, is being acquired by the private-equity companies Vista Equity Partners and Elliott Investment Management for $16.5 billion, the company said Monday morning.
The all-cash acquisition of Citrix, which employs around 700 people in downtown Raleigh, will take the company private, removing the company’s shares from the publicly traded Nasdaq stock exchange. The deal also includes the assumption of Citrix’s debt.
The buyout of Citrix comes just a few months after Elliot Management, an investment firm known for shaking up companies, took a $1 billion stake in the company, The Wall Street Journal reported in September.
Prior to Elliot taking a stake in the company, shares of Citrix’s stock had fallen, with many analysts saying the company had struggled to transition into a new subscription model for its cloud computing services.
In November, the company laid off some employees as part of a restructuring effort within the company, The News & Observer reported. Around 50 workers in the Raleigh office were laid off, the company said at the time.
Citrix has not yet responded to requests from The N&O about how the buyout could affect at the company and in Raleigh.
Elliot and Vista will pay Citrix shareholders $104 in cash per share, a 30% premium over its share price before the deal was announced.
As part of the deal, Citrix will be combined with another Vista-owned tech company called Tibco, a cloud-computing analytics company. Citrix will keep its name as part of the deal.
Together, the combined company will have more than 400,000 customers, Citrix said.
In a statement, Citrix said that going private would give the company more flexibility going forward.
“We believe going private is the best path forward for our shareholders, customers and employees,” said Tim Minahan, Citrix’s executive vice president of business strategy. “As a private company, Citrix will have increased financial and strategic flexibility to invest in high-growth opportunities that fuel innovation and accelerate our transition to a company with predictable growth and strong profit margins.”
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate
This story was originally published January 31, 2022 at 9:37 AM.
