You might remember the deal that event technology company Cvent had to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners earlier this year. Well, the $1.65 billion deal finally closed today, taking Cvent private, but not without a final twist.
In the months since the announcement, the San Francisco-based Vista Equity Partners has decided to merge Cvent with one of its portfolio companies, Dallas-based event management software company Lanyon, and to keep it all under the Cvent brand.
Cvent CEO and founder Reggie Aggarwal will be the CEO of the combined company, and its headquarters will remain in Tysons Corner, Va., where Cvent is headquartered now. Combined, the companies have 800 tech employees and 700 customer-facing support staff members.
"It’s still early days despite the fact that we have over 30 years combined experience," Cvent co-founder and President of Worldwide Sales Chuck Ghoorah told DC Inno in an interview. "I just find that the marketplace is really now embracing technology from a meeting perspective."
Cvent plans to keep the Lanyon staff in Dallas, and they're looking forward to the growth opportunities now open to them there.
"We need to be able to support our customers on a worldwide basis," Ghoorah said. "We’re headquartered here, but with video conferencing and everything else, it’s important that we have domain expertise."
When Cvent debuted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CVT) in August 2013, it started off strong, beating analysts' expectations at least two quarters in a row. Three years later, Ghoorah said he's excited for the company to be private again, and he sees the exit as more of a next chapter for Cvent that allows them to operate outside of the confines of the regimented quarterly schedule.
"As a private company, it’s going to give us the opportunity to innovate more but with more runway," Ghoorah said. "With public companies, you have to look at things in terms of 90 days, quarter to quarter, and it’s going to be exciting to be a growth company as a private company that Vista is backing.
"We're looking at this as our next chapter—just instead of being publicly backed, we’re privately backed."
