Insight Venture Partners to acquire Diligent Corporation for $624m
Private equity firm Insight Venture Partners has entered into an agreement to wholly acquire New Zealand-listed software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider Diligent Corporation.
Under the agreement, Insight will pay shareholders $4.90 for each share of Diligent stock, a consideration which the companies said values Diligent at approximately $624 million.
Diligent's board of directors has unanimously approved the transaction and has recommended the deal to shareholders.
Diligent went public on the New Zealand Stock Exchange in December 2007 at $0.66 per share. Diligent chairman David Liptak said that the proposed share transaction of $4.90 represents the culmination of nine years of effort to build a market-leading company.
"After a careful review of strategic alternatives, the Diligent board of directors determined that the terms offered by Insight represent a transaction that is in the best interest of stockholders," Liptak said.
"In addition to being a terrific result for all of our stockholders, we believe this transaction will provide Diligent with the financial flexibility to continue executing on its long-term vision, which we believe will benefit both clients and employees."
Brian Stafford, CEO and president of Diligent, said that Insight will be a great partner to his team, adding that the venture capital firm brings with it substantial experience supporting the growth of software companies around the world.
"Our game plan will not change as a private company -- to be the leading provider of collaboration software for boards, committees, and leadership teams," he said.
Diligent paid $10 million in October for the assets of Thomson Reuter's SaaS collaboration software for company boards, BoardLink.
At the time, Stafford said there was a strong alignment between the two companies and the acquisition provided a broader platform from which to expand and innovate. It was also said that the acquisition would add over 250 new clients and 9,000 users.
Insight said that it is focused on investing in and acquiring high-growth technology businesses that are driving transformative change in their industries.
"Our mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives providing them with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success," the company said.
Insight also said it has raised more than $13 billion and invested in more than 250 companies worldwide.
One of the company's recent acquisitions was cloud-based software provider E2open, which it scooped up in February last year for $273 million.