Buyout firms Hellman & Friedman and Vista Equity Partners are both vying for business software maker TeamViewer, reports Reuters. A deal, which could be worth more than $2 billion, is expected to be announced soon, the sources said, as discussions are in their final stages.
Göppingen, Germany-based TeamViewer, an all-in-one solution for remote access, support, collaboration and desktop sharing over the Internet, has been owned by Permira since 2014. The London-based private equity firm bought out TeamViewer for 870 million euros, or about $1 billion. Given peers Citrix and LogMeIn trade at 12.5 to 15 times their expected core earnings, sources suggest the software vendor could go for a multiple of more than 13 times its 2017 forecasted earnings of 130 million euros, or $153 million.
The twelve-year-old company, which says it serves 90% of the Fortune 500 and lists 20 million active users at a given time, heads off against competitors including Microsoft, Symantec and Cisco. The German software provider reported revenues of 171 million euros in 2016, or approximately $201 million.
The company is working with San Francisco-based Qatalyst Partners to evaluate the rival takeover proposals which were recently submitted by the two U.S. funds. The technology-focused advisory firm reportedly approached tech leaders including Microsoft, Salesforce and Softbank in efforts to interest them in bidding. Sources also indicated that Permira was advanced earlier in 2017 by a number of interested parties including European buyout funds EQT and Cinven, which later dropped out as no formal auction process had been launched.
Permira, Hellman & Freidman, EQT and Cinven declined to comment. Qatalyst and Vista had no immediate comment.