Citrix To Be Acquired, Taken Private And Merged With Tibco In $16.5B Deal

Confirming reports that have been circulating for weeks, Citrix Systems is being bought by private equity firms Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital for $104 per share.

Citrix Systems is being acquired and taken private in an all-cash deal valued at $16.5 billion and will be combined with data integration and analysis software developer Tibco Software, the companies said Monday.

Citrix is being bought by Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital, the latter an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management. Tibco has been owned by Vista Equity Partners since 2014.

The announcement confirms reports that have been circulating for weeks that Citrix was in negotiations to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners and Elliott Management.

[Related: Citrix CEO David Henshall Steps Down]

The deal has been unanimously approved by the Citrix board of directors and is expected to close by mid-year, subject to customary closing conditions, Citrix shareholder approval and regulatory approvals. Elliott Management and its affiliates, which own about 12 percent of Citrix shares, will vote their shares in favor of the deal.

Citrix shareholders will receive $104.00 in cash per share under the deal, representing a 30 percent premium over the company’s five-day volume-weighted average price as of Dec. 7, 2021, “the last trading day before market speculation regarding a potential transaction” began, according to a Citrix statement, and a 24 percent premium over the Dec. 20, 2021, closing price, the last trading day prior to media reports about a potential bid from Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital.

Citrix’s stock closed at $105.55 per share on Friday, Jan. 28, but opened at $101.79 Monday morning, down nearly 4 percent.

Once the acquisition is complete, Citrix will become a private company, will continue to operate under the Citrix name and brand, and will remain based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Jed Ayres, CEO of secure edge operating system powerhouse IGEL, which works closely with Citrix in the VDI market, said he sees the deal as a game-changer that brings together two storied technology companies to create a “cohesive platform that delivers on connected data and apps with the security” that is demanded in a hybrid cloud marketplace.

“If Citrix and Tibco can deliver on this vision, they will do very well,” he said. “Both of these companies have a storied history. These are two companies that are in every large enterprise customer in the world. They have an opportunity now as a private company to build a very cohesive platform that connects people to data and applications with the right analytics and security. The big question is how well and how quickly they can integrate their offerings. Regardless, going private will help Citrix continue their transition to the cloud without the pressure of being a publicly held company.”

Citrix is a provider of secure digital workspace and application delivery software. Tibco, based in Palo Alto, Calif., markets data management, integration and analysis software, much of it acquired through a series of acquisitions over more than 20 years.

The Citrix acquisition and combination with Tibco will “accelerate Citrix’s defined growth strategy and Saas transition,” the companies said.

The Citrix-Tibco merger “will create one of the world’s largest software providers, serving 400,000 customers, including 98 percent of the Fortune 500 with 100 million users in 100 countries,” the companies said in a statement.

The combined company “will be positioned to provide complete, secure and optimized infrastructure for enterprise application and desktop delivery and data management to advance hybrid cloud IT strategies and meet the needs of the modern enterprise,” the statement said.

“Today’s announcement is the culmination of a strategic review process conducted over five months, including extensive outreach to both potential financial and strategic buyers. This transaction provides our shareholders with significant immediate cash value. Moreover, this investment by Vista and Evergreen is a testament to the value Citrix has created and the reputation our team has built,” said Bob Calderoni, chairman of the Citrix board of directors and interim president and CEO, in a statement.

“Over the past three decades, Citrix has established itself as the clear leader in secure hybrid work. Our market-leading platform provides secure and reliable access to all of the applications and information employees need to get work done, wherever it needs to get done,” Calderoni continued.

“By combining with Tibco, we will expand this platform and the outcomes our customers achieve. Together with Tibco, we will be able to operate with greater scale and provide a larger customer base with a broader range of solutions to accelerate their digital transformations and enable them to deliver the future of hybrid work. As a private company, we will have increased financial and strategic flexibility to invest in high-growth opportunities, such as DaaS [Data as a Service], and accelerate its ongoing cloud transition,” Calderoni said.

“There has never been a better time to be in the business of connected intelligent analytics, and we’re thrilled to bring our industry-leading solutions to Citrix’s global customers,” said Tibco CEO Dan Streetman in the statement. “The workplace has changed forever, and companies everywhere will require real-time access to faster, smarter insights from the increasingly large volumes of data available to them, their employees, and their ecosystems. I couldn’t be more excited about our combined vision and look forward to a strong partnership.”

A Tibco spokesperson said the companies are not disclosing additional details about the deal or making company executives available for comment.