Vista, Evergreen to take Citrix private in $16.5B deal

Affiliates of investment firms Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital are taking cloud computing company Citrix Systems Inc. private in an all-cash deal valued at $16.5 billion.

Citrix shareholders will receive $104 in cash per share. The transaction includes the assumption of Citrix debt, but the amount of debt was not specified.

Vista and Evergreen plan to combine Citrix with one of Vista’s portfolio companies, Tibco Software. The combined businesses will serve 400,000 customers, with 100 million users in 100 countries.

“Together with Tibco, we will be able to operate with greater scale and provide a larger customer base with a broader range of solutions to accelerate their digital transformations and enable them to deliver the future of hybrid work,” Citrix interim CEO and president Bob Calderoni said in a statement on Monday.

Calderoni said Citrix had conducted a strategic review over the last five months, including outreach to both potential financial and strategic buyers.

The company will continue to operate under the Citrix name and brand and will remain headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The deal, which was approved by Citrix’s board, is anticipated to close midyear. It still needs approval from Citrix shareholders. Shares of the company declined 3.5% before the market open.