Medallia, the global leader in customer and employee experience, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Thoma Bravo, a leading software investment firm, in an all-cash transaction that values Medallia at $6.4 billion.
Through this transaction, Medallia will become a private company with additional resources and greater flexibility to build on its innovation leadership and expand its customer impact.
Additionally, the transaction will allow Medallia to benefit from the operating capabilities, capital support and deep sector expertise of Thoma Bravo – one of the most experienced and successful software investors in the world.
Under the terms of the agreement, Medallia shareholders will receive $34.00 per share in cash, which represents a premium of approximately 20% to Medallia’s unaffected closing stock price on June 10, 2021, the last full trading day prior to media reports regarding a possible transaction, and a premium of approximately 29% to Medallia’s unaffected 30-day average price.
“Today’s announcement underscores our commitment to constant innovation, expansion and value creation,” said Leslie Stretch, President and CEO of Medallia. “Since becoming a public company in 2019, we have made significant progress bolstering our leadership position in experience management. Today, Medallia benefits from a differentiated portfolio of cloud technology solutions and an expansive, loyal customer base across a diverse set of industry verticals and geographies. I look forward to our continued outstanding work in support of our customers. Furthermore, we are eager to build on our success and begin the next phase of differentiated growth, and we believe that becoming a private company represents the best opportunity to do just that. In addition to maximizing value for our shareholders, this transaction will enable us to execute on our long-term strategy with even greater effectiveness, efficiency and flexibility.”
“Medallia has positioned itself at the forefront of the experience management market with a best-in-class SaaS platform that leverages proprietary AI to help companies better understand their customers and employees and drive meaningful business growth at scale,” said Scott Crabill, a Managing Partner at Thoma Bravo. “Medallia’s ability to provide personalized and predictive insights across every channel and to companies of all sizes has become mission-critical in a rapidly expanding universe of structured and unstructured data, where more and more business is transacted digitally. We look forward to partnering with Leslie and the talented Medallia team and applying our operational and investment expertise in software to support the company in the next phase of its growth journey.”
“Medallia not only created the category of experience management but continues to re-define it through innovation, having built a unified, action-oriented platform with the most comprehensive signal capture technology on the market,” said Peter Stefanski, a Principal at Thoma Bravo. “Medallia products are used extensively from the front line to the C-suite in enabling users to improve experiences in real-time with valuable data and insights. In a world where enterprises are only beginning to understand the power of using experience data to run their businesses, we are excited to support Medallia as it continues to capitalize on a massive, growing market opportunity.”
Transaction Details
Following an unsolicited approach regarding an acquisition, the Medallia Board of Directors engaged in a robust strategic review process with the assistance of independent legal and financial advisors. This included an evaluation of Medallia’s strategic plan as an independent company and other strategic alternatives. Following this process, the Medallia Board unanimously approved the transaction with Thoma Bravo, as it provides Medallia’s shareholders with immediate and certain value.
Thoma Bravo has also entered into voting agreements with Medallia’s directors and executive officers, and investment funds affiliated with these individuals. Under these agreements, which represent approximately 34% of Medallia’s outstanding shares, the applicable shareholders have agreed to vote in favour of the transaction, subject to certain terms and conditions contained therein.
The agreement includes a 40-day “go-shop” period expiring on September 4, 2021. During this period, Medallia, assisted by its legal and financial advisors will actively initiate, solicit and consider alternative acquisition proposals from third parties. The Medallia Board will have the right to terminate the merger agreement to enter into a superior proposal, subject to the terms and conditions of the merger agreement. There can be no assurance that this “go-shop” process will result in a superior proposal, and Medallia does not intend to disclose developments with respect to the solicitation process unless and until it determines that such disclosure is appropriate or otherwise required.
The transaction is expected to close in 2021, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Medallia shareholders and receipt of regulatory approvals. Upon completion of the transaction, Medallia’s common stock will no longer be listed on any public market. Medallia will remain headquartered in San Francisco.
Advisors
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is serving as lead financial advisor to Medallia, and BofA Securities and Wells Fargo Securities are also serving as financial advisors. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional Corporation is serving as Medallia’s legal advisor. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal advisor to Thoma Bravo. Debt financing for the transaction is being provided by Blackstone Credit, certain funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Capital Management, L.P., KKR Credit, Thoma Bravo Credit and Antares Capital.
About Medallia
Medallia (NYSE: MDLA) is the pioneer and market leader in customer, employee, citizen and patient experience. The company’s award-winning SaaS platform, Medallia Experience Cloud, is becoming the experience system of record that makes all other applications customer and employee aware. The platform captures billions of experience signals across interactions including all voice, video, digital, IOT, social media and corporate messaging tools. Medallia uses proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to automatically reveal predictive insights that drive powerful business actions and outcomes. Medallia customers reduce churn, turn detractors into promoters and buyers, create in-the-moment cross-sell and up-sell opportunities and drive revenue-impacting business decisions, providing clear and potent returns on investment.
For more information visit www.medallia.com.
About Thoma Bravo
Thoma Bravo is one of the largest private equity firms in the world, with more than $78 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2021. The firm invests in growth-oriented, innovative companies operating in the software and technology sectors. Leveraging the firm’s deep sector expertise and proven strategic and operational capabilities, Thoma Bravo collaborates with its portfolio companies to implement operating best practices, drive growth initiatives and make accretive acquisitions intended to accelerate revenue and earnings. Over the past 20 years, the firm has acquired more than 300 companies representing over $85 billion in enterprise value. The firm has offices in Chicago, Miami and San Francisco.
For more information, visit thomabravo.com.