Avid – maker of Pro Tools and other professional media solutions – has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of private equity partner STG in an all-cash transaction, valuing Avid at approximately $1.4 billion, inclusive of Avid’s net debt.
Under the terms of the agreement, Avid stockholders will receive $27.05 in cash for each share of Avid common stock. The cash purchase price represents a premium of 32.1% over the Company’s unaffected closing share price on May 23, 2023, the last full trading day prior to media speculation regarding a potential sale of the Company.
“This transaction is the result of a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives for Avid,” said John P. Wallace, Chairman of the Avid Board of Directors. “Upon closing, this transaction will deliver immediate, significant and certain value to our stockholders. After carefully evaluating a variety of options, the Board determined that this transaction is in the best interests of Avid and its stockholders.”
Transaction Details
The transaction was unanimously approved by Avid’s Board of Directors and is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to Avid stockholder approval, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The transaction will be financed through a combination of equity and debt financing and is not subject to a financing condition. Upon completion of the transaction, Avid will become a privately-held company, and its common stock will no longer be traded on Nasdaq.
i haven’t used my protools in over 10 years, or the computer it’s installed on. rather do live stuff; more energy, more passion than pushing stems around a screen.
I’m the same as you. I switched over to logic for backing tracks.
Avids’ worth $1.4B?? Damn.. This will end up a nice tax write-off for the sucker.. umm, I mean buyer.
Usually the way it works is the newly private company is saddled with huge debt due to the leveraged buyout and ends up paying massive amounts of interest to the creditors – who are usually the principals of the private equity firm. Their incentive is to maximize debt payments (as well as salaries and other money paid to themselves) as long as possible to get their money back, usually with a hefty profit on top of it.
I wish Avid, its users and even the new owners all the best but yeowch, this quote is a strong reminder of priorities:
> “Upon closing, this transaction will deliver immediate, significant and certain value to our stockholders. After carefully evaluating a variety of options, the Board determined that this transaction is in the best interests of Avid and its stockholders.”
Absolutely nothing about Avid users/customers.
RIP ProTools. 🙁
I love ProTools.
“The transaction will be financed through a combination of equity and debt financing and is not subject to a financing condition”
Let’s hope that private equity management and a leveraged buyout doesn’t do what it did to all of those other companies.