Vista Equity Partners Buying Avalara for $8.4 Billion, Taking It Private

Vista Equity Partners is acquiring Avalara, a provider of tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes. It’s an $8.4 billion transaction that will take the company private.

Vista Equity will acquire all outstanding shares of Avalara stock for $93.50 per share in an all-cash transaction. That includes Avalara’s net debt. The per-share purchase price represents a 27% premium over the company’s closing share price as of July 6. That’s the last trading day prior to media reports regarding a potential transaction.

The acquisition should close in the second half of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions. Those include approval by Avalara shareholders and receipt of regulatory approval.

Upon completion of the transaction, Avalara’s shares will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange. It will then become a private company. It will continue to operate under the Avalara name and brand.

Vista Equity also is acquiring Citrix and is taking it private, too.

Vista Equity Plans Expansion with Avalara

Founded in 2004, Avalara’s success is built on an extensive partner network. It has a large tax content data and repository, and a cloud-native, end-to-end multi-product tax compliance portfolio.

In partnering with Vista Equity, Avalara will look to build on its platform by refining its go-to-market (GTM) strategy. It also plans to expand its international workforce, streamline its systems architecture, and pursue value-accretive M&A opportunities.

Scott McFarlane is Avalara‘s co-founder and CEO.

Avalara’s Scott McFarlane

“For nearly two decades, Avalara has ambitiously pursued its vision to automate global compliance, making tax less taxing for businesses and governments around the world,” he said. “As a leader in this category, we believe our continued investment in innovation and experience is exciting for our customers, partners and employees. We are pleased to partner with Vista and will benefit from their expertise in enterprise software as we build and improve upon our cloud compliance platform.”

Adrian Alonso is managing director at Vista Equity.

“Vista has built a reputation as a preferred partner for founder-led, next-generation software companies,” he said. “We look forward to working with Scott and the entire Avalara team to advance their vision and continue delivering innovative solutions to customers.”