PROS, a Houston-based global SaaS platform specializing in pricing analytics, announced Monday that it is being acquired and taken private by Thoma Bravo in an all-cash deal for $1.4 billion.
Under terms of the agreement, Chicago-based Thoma Bravo will pay $23.25 each for the outstanding shares of PROS, which represents a 41.7 percent premium over the share price for PROSE at its close on the NYSE Friday. Moreover, the offer represents a 53.2 percent premium over PROS’ volume weighted share price over the 30 days prior.
Qatalyst Partners is serving as financial advisors to PROS with DLA Piper as outside legal counsel. Evercore is advising Thoma Bravo on the financial side and Kirkland & Ellis is serving its longtime client Thoma Bravo as outside legal counsel.
PROS uses predictive AI and real-time analytics to advise on the pricing of products and the matching of offers to buyers.
PROS was founded on analytics created in 1985 by Mariette and Ron Woestemeyer as a computer-driven solution for airline overbooking. The company that became PROS went public with an IPO in 2007.
Jeff Cotten, president and CEO of PROS, said the decision to take the company private was the result of an internal strategic reevaluation process.
“As a private company, PROS will be more agile and have greater flexibility to invest in innovation and expand our platform, building on our leadership position and enabling us to remain at the forefront of AI-powered enterprise transformation,” Cotten said.
The Kirkland team advising Thoma Bravo was led from Chicago by Corey Fox and Brad Reed with Cole Parker and George Boden. Included were debt finance lawyers Brian Ford in Los Angeles and Alex Straka in Chicago as well as executive compensation lawyers Michael Falk in Chicago and Lany Villalobos in Washington, D.C.
The DLA Piper deal team was led from Austin bartners John J. Gilluly III, Jeffrey Scharfstein, and Brent Bernell. The team also included Michelle Lara (San Diego), Paolo Morante (New York), Georgia Jolink (Austin), Ronald Brown (Wilmington), Jeff Aronson (Palo Alto), Brian Hamano (Los Angeles), Jamie Knox (New York), Jennifer Kashatus, and Nicholas Klein (both Washington DC), and associates Vincent Schiavoni (Phoenix), Destiny Harrison, Jessica Stenglein (both Austin), and Zach Altman (Boston).