Clearlake’s $7.7B Dun & Bradstreet Deal Among Largest B2B Data Plays
Plus: We warn that infrastructure portco valuations are at risk with the impending IRA repeal and outline portco M&A and exits from last week.
More like Dun deal.
Last week, Dun & Bradstreet entered into a definitive agreement to be taken private by Clearlake Capital Group in a deal valued at $7.7 billion, including debt, or just $4.1 billion including equity. Under the terms, shareholders of the public B2B data and analytics company will receive $9.15 in cash per share.
The deal will be financed with $2.3 billion in equity and $5.75 billion in debt — a slightly higher debt percentage (about 60 percent) for a take private than the Q4 2024 average (53 percent), according to Pitchbook.
The debt financing will initially be fulfilled via a bridge loan and then be be replaced by longer-term financing such as junk bonds or leveraged loans. Morgan Stanley will be the leading lender in a consortium that includes Ares and HSBC.
The transaction was unanimously approved by Dun & Bradstreet's board and is expected to close in Q3 2025.
Mixed feelings.
Despite the unanimous approval, not all stakeholders were thrilled with the deal. The sale price of $9.15 per share is only a modest increase from its pre-announcement stock price of $8.73 and is significantly below the company’s 2020 IPO price of $22 per share.
Analysts are hopeful that the 30-day “go-shop” period included in the deal will attract slightly higher offers. Since 2019, Dun & Bradstreet’s operational growth has not been reflected in its stock price, which has steadily declined since its IPO.
A numbers game.
B2B data company deals have been making headlines lately — look no farther than BlackRock’s $3.2 billion Preqin acquisition as proof that business intelligence is getting more valuable.
For Clearlake, Dun & Bradstreet won’t represent the firm’s first foray into business-to-business data companies. In October 2015, the PE firm bought Syncsort Incorporated, a provider of data integration and transformation software.
During its ownership, Clearlake invested in M&A, first adding on Precisely (Trillium Software) in late 2016 and then merging Synscort with another software portfolio company, Vision Solutions, in August 2017. The combined entity was sold to Centerbridge Partners for $1.26 billion, with Clearlake retaining a minority ownership stake.
Clearlake Capital did not respond to request for comment.
PE portcos also saw some full and partial exits last week, as well as some exits-to-be:
PAI Partners offloaded a portion of its stake in European Camping Group to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Specific financial terms of the transaction were not publicly disclosed.
Apollo-backed OLB Group, a German regional lender, withdrew its plans for an initial public offering and has instead agreed to a sale to Crédit Mutuel for €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion), or a 3.5x return for Apollo.
Roper Technologies acquired Insight Partners-backed CentralReach, a software provider for applied behavior analysis therapy, for $1.65 billion.
Blackstone bought a minority stake in airport operator AGS from AviAlliance, owned by PSP Investments. Blackstone paid £235 million ($303.6 million) for a 22 percent stake, with PSP’s AviAlliance retaining the remaining 78 percent.
Bain Capital agreed to acquire Namirial, a provider of digital transaction management solutions, from Ambient, at a €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) valuation.
Meanwhile, portco M&A was in full swing:
McGraw Hill, a global education company owned by Platinum Equity, acquired Essaypop, an educational writing software, for an unknown sum. The acquisition is the company’s fourth since Platinum Equity acquired it in 2021.
PSG-backed eCommerce software firm Yottaa bought SpeedSense, a provider of website optimization solutions, for an undisclosed amount.
IQGeo, owned by KKR, entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire AI software developer Deepomatic. Financial terms were not disclosed.
SER Group, a document management vendor owned by TA Associates and The Carlyle Group, acquired AFI Solutions, a provider of document automation solutions, for an undisclosed amount.
Partners Group’s SureWerx, a provider of safety tools and equipment, acquired Reliance Fall Protection, a fall protection safety product engineering firm, for an unknown amount.
And there were some key people moves:
Kingswood Capital Management appointed Merche del Valle as its chief talent officer for both the firm and all of its portfolio companies. She previously served as managing director, chief talent officer, and chief HR officer at Grain Management.
The Halifax Group hired Howard Miller as an operating executive. Miller’s most recently served as the chief executive of Envision Pharma Group.
RIP, IRA.
Nobody wants to admit that the worst will likely come to pass — but I have no money in the game, so allow me to be the first to do so. The Inflation Reduction Act is as good as dead.
Most investors have relied on the fact that red states benefit more from the IRA to assert that the Republican Party has no interest in gutting the clean energy tax credit bill. But the erratic nature of this administration makes this less of a convincing argument and more of a kind of wishful thinking.
In fact, Heatmap reported that former GOP Hill staff believe that even the most bipartisan parts of the IRA could be cut during the imminent budget reconciliation process in order to make room for Trump’s proposed tax cuts.
This will have major implications for infrastructure portfolio companies’ valuations, as some tax credits reduce assets’ tax burdens by upwards of 30 percent. This, combined with a regulatory climate that is hostile towards sustainable investing, will make the already tough exit environment even more brutal for renewable energy investors.
See you next week!