At the company’s special shareholder meeting on Fri., Oct. 14, the shareholders of Avalara, Inc., a leading provider of tax compliance automation for businesses, voted to support the pending transaction with Vista Equity Partners.
Vista Equity Partners is a major global investment firm led by America’s richest Black person, Robert Smith. Almost all of his $11.9-billion fortune, which makes him the 134th richest man in the world according to Bloomberg’s data, is derived from his holdings in the Texas-based firm.
According to a press release received by Billionaires.Africa, around 80 percent of outstanding shares were represented at the meeting, with 84 percent of those shares voting in favor of the proposed merger, for a total of 66 percent of total outstanding shares.
Avalara will file the final vote results, as certified by the independent Inspector of Elections, on Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Following shareholder approval, Vista will purchase all outstanding shares of Avalara common stock for $93.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $8.4 billion, including Avalara’s net debt.
Avalara’s shares will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after the deal is finished, which is anticipated to occur on Oct. 19, subject to the satisfaction of all closing conditions.
Avalara will then become a private corporation run by Vista Equity.
As Vista Equity continues to use its substantial cash holdings and the recent decrease in the valuation of technology companies to acquire businesses with enormous economic potential, the closing of the deal will set the stage for further acquisitions now under consideration.
In the first half of 2022, the private equity and permanent capital portfolios of Vista Equity added 11 new portfolio companies and closed 18 add-on transactions across the Flagship, Foundation, Endeavor, and Perennial funds.
The investment company also made an all-cash bid of $4.22 billion in September to acquire Florida-based cybersecurity software developer KnowBe4.
