SAP-controlled Qualtrics accepts buyout offer from Silver Lake, CPPIB (updated)

Qualtrics International

13/03/2023 18:55

(Adds financing arrangements)
       March 13 (Reuters) - Qualtrics International Inc  XM.O 
said on Monday it would be taken private after its controlling
shareholder, SAP SE  SAPG.DE , accepted a $12.5 billion bid from
a consortium led by Silver Lake and Canada Pension Plan
Investment Board (CPPIB).
    Shares of the customer survey software maker were up 6.6% to
$17.65 in afternoon trading.
    SAP agreed to the offer, of $18.15 per share, and said it
would get about $7.7 billion for its stake.
    The deal, the year's biggest private equity-led buyout,
comes after German software giant SAP decided that the offer was
the best it could secure, Reuters was first to report on Sunday.
        Silver Lake and CPPIB have committed to funding the
entire deal themselves, if necessary, without borrowing against
Qualtrics, as is customary in private equity deals of this size,
according to a regulatory filing. While they could add debt to
the deal later to juice returns, the move reflects how debt has
become scarcer and more expensive amid high interest rates and
concerns about a potential economic downturn. 
  
    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 finalized.
    Silver Lake, whose portfolio consists mostly of technology
companies, currently holds a 4.1% stake in Qualtrics.
    In 2018, SAP bought Qualtrics for $8 billion and three years
later listed it in New York.
    Videogame software developer Unity Software  U.N  and
Alphabet Inc's  GOOGL.O  self-driving technology firm Waymo are
among the companies in Silver Lake's portfolio.

 (Reporting by Mrinmay Dey and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru;
Editing by Savio D'Souza, Sriraj Kalluvila and Leslie Adler)
 ((Mrinmay.Dey@thomsonreuters.com;))