Cvent has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of private equity funds managed by Blackstone in a transaction valued at an enterprise value of approximately $4.6 billion.
Cvent’s suite of technology solutions powers the entire event management process to maximize the impact of events. The company has approximately 22,000 customers globally in the corporate, non-profit, higher education and hospitality sectors as of December 31, 2022. Since its founding in 1999, Cvent has helped manage more than 5 million events, and lists over 302,000 hotels and venues as of December 31, 2022 on the Cvent Supplier Network, an online platform with tools to search, negotiate and contract with hotels and venues for event space.
Said Reggie Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Cvent. “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, a 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.”
In connection with the transaction, Vista Equity Partners (“Vista”), a global investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses, and majority stockholder of Cvent, has agreed to invest a portion of its proceeds as non-convertible preferred stock in financing for the transaction.
Following the recommendation of a special committee composed entirely of independent and disinterested directors, the Cvent Board of Directors unanimously approved the merger agreement. The transaction is expected to close mid-year 2023, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including receipt of approval by Cvent’s stockholders and required regulatory approvals. Upon completion of the transaction, Cvent’s common stock will no longer be publicly listed, and Cvent will become a privately held company.
Under the terms of the agreement, Cvent stockholders will receive $8.50 per share in cash, representing a premium of 52 percent to the volume weighted average share price over the 90 days prior to January 30, 2023. A wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) will be a significant minority investor alongside Blackstone as part of the transaction. Blackstone has received a fully committed $1.0 billion credit facility as part of the financing of this transaction.
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