Cvent Agrees to be Acquired by Blackstone for $4.6B

Meetings technology company Cvent has agreed to be acquired by an affiliate managed by private investment firm Blackstone for approximately $4.6 billion, the company announced Tuesday. 

Once completed, Cvent again will become a privately held company and its common stock will no longer be publicly listed, the company said. 

Cvent has had an active publicly and privately held history, particularly of late. The company went public via a special purpose acquisition company just over a year ago and began trading on the Nasdaq in December 2021. Prior to that, the company since 2017 was held by U.S. private equity firm Vista Equity, which acquired Cvent under some Department of Justice scrutiny into a portfolio which also included Lanyon and then merged the two companies. Prior to Vista, Cvent went public with a $135 million initial public offering in 2013 and first traded on the New York Stock Exchange in August of that year. 

The Blackstone acquisition, which was unanimously approved by Cvent’s board of directors, is expected to close mid-year 2023, “subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions,” including approval by Cvent’s stockholders and “required regulatory approvals,” according to the company.

“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,” Blackstone senior managing director David Schwartz said in a statement. 

As part of the deal, Cvent stockholders would collect $8.50 per share in cash—a 52 percent premium to the volume weighted average share calculated over the 90 days prior Jan. 30, ahead of previous reports of a potential sale—according to the company.

The acquisition news follows a Feb. 24 Reuters report that Cvent had rejected a $3.9 billion bid from Blackstone. The company was reportedly “not exploring a sale” when Blackstone approached with the $8 per-share offer, according to Reuters. 

“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,” Cvent founder and CEO Reggie Aggarwal said in a Tuesday statement.

Alongside Blackstone in the transaction is a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, playing a “significant minority investor” role in the acquisition, according to the company.

Q4, 2022 Results

Cvent also reported quarterly and annual revenue, perhaps for the final time as a public company. Cvent reported fourth-quarter revenue of $170.9 million, up 18.2 percent year over year. Event Cloud revenue increased 17.2 percent to $120.6 million while Hospitality Cloud revenue increased 20.5 percent to $50.3 million.

For full-year 2022, total revenue increased 21.5 percent year over year to $630.6 million, while Event Cloud revenue increased 21.8 percent to $441.1 million, and Hospitality Cloud revenue increased 20.9 percent to $189.5 million.

Cvent’s fourth-quarter net loss was $19.1 million, compared with $21.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Its full-year net loss was $100.3 million, compared with a net loss of $86.1 million one year prior.

Given the pending acquisition, Cvent said it would not hold a conference call to discuss its results, nor would it issue any forecasts for 2023.

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