Qualtrics accepts $12.5bn offer from Silver Lake

Qualtrics International said on Monday it would be taken private after its controlling shareholder, SAP , accepted a $12.5bn bid from a consortium led by Silver Lake and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).

Shares of the customer survey software maker rose more than 6% to $17.60 before the bell.

SAP agreed to the $18.15-per-share offer and said it would get about $7.7bn (R140bn) for its stake.

The year’s biggest private equity-led buyout comes after the German software giant decided that the offer was the best it could secure, Reuters reported on Sunday.

Qualtrics said earlier this month it would negotiate on an exclusive basis with Silver Lake and CPPIB until March 15 to see whether a deal could be finalised.

Silver Lake, whose portfolio consists mostly of technology companies, currently holds a 4.1% stake in Qualtrics.

In 2018, SAP bought Qualtrics for $8bn (R145.6bn) and three years later listed it in New York.

Video game software developer Unity Software and Alphabet’s self-driving technology firm Waymo are among the companies in Silver Lake’s portfolio.

Reuters