Silver Lake and CPP Investments to acquire Qualtrics for $12.5 billion

Silver Lake and CPP Investments on Monday announced plans to acquire Qualtrics for $12.5 billion, marking the second time the survey software company has been bought in less than 5 years.

Shares of Qualtrics were up more than 6% Monday.

The companies will acquire 100% of Qualtrics’ outstanding shares, according to a statement released Monday. This includes the majority ownership interest of SAP, which acquired Qualtrics for $8 billion in 2018.

The all-cash deal has been approved by Qualtrics’ board of directors and a Qualtrics committee of independent directors, according to the statement. SAP also approved the transaction in its capacity as Qualtrics’ principal shareholder. No other shareholder approval is required.

Once the transaction is complete, Qualtrics will become a privately held company and its common stock will no longer be listed on public markets. Shareholders, including SAP, will receive $18.15 per share in cash under the terms of the agreement, according to the statement.

Morgan Stanley advised Qualtrics on the deal, and Barclays acted as the financial adviser to SAP. JPMorgan advised Silver Lake.

Qualtrics gets most of its sales from subscriptions and also generates revenue from a research-on-demand option that existing customers can use to get feedback from “a curated group of respondents,” and from professional services.

Qualtrics was founded in 2002 by brothers Ryan and Jared Smith and their dad, Scott, along with Stuart Orgill. The company is based in Provo, Utah.

“I couldn’t be more excited for this step in our journey,” Ryan Smith, who serves as the company’s Executive Chairman, said in the statement. “Silver Lake’s belief in our vision and their amazing track record of helping founders and management teams speaks for itself. We look forward to working together and driving category-defining growth to build the next great enterprise cloud platform.”