Endurance International Group Holdings Inc. has announced that it is to be acquired by Clearlake Capital Group L.P. in a deal valued in excess of $3 billion.
Endurance (EIG) isn’t really a household name, even for people working in the internet space. They’re better known by the brands in the group which include companies like:
- Domain.com
- HostGator
- Bluehost
- Constant Contact
- Reseller Club
- Big Rock
A few years back Endurance seemed to be acquiring companies at a crazy pace. Now they are to be acquired.
Clearlake’s investment portfolio covers several industry sectors including technology.
Here’s the full announcement:
Endurance International Group Holdings, Inc. (“Endurance” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq:EIGI), a leading provider of cloud-based platform solutions designed to help small and medium-sized businesses succeed online, announced today that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by affiliates of Clearlake Capital Group L.P. (“Clearlake”) in an all cash transaction valued at approximately $3.0 billion including outstanding indebtedness.
Under the terms of the definitive agreement, which has been unanimously approved by the members of the Endurance Board of Directors, affiliates of Clearlake will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Endurance for $9.50 per share in cash. The purchase price represents a 79% premium over Endurance’s unaffected share price of $5.30 as of September 25, 2020, the last trading day prior to media speculation about a potential transaction, and a 64% premium to its closing share price on October 30, 2020 of $5.81.
A special meeting of Endurance shareholders will be held promptly following the filing of a definitive proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Certain affiliates of Warburg Pincus and Goldman Sachs Private Equity Partners have entered into a voting agreement committing them to, among other things, vote approximately 36% of the outstanding shares of Endurance common stock in favor of adopting the acquisition agreement.
“We are pleased with this agreement which recognizes the value of our multi-brand scale platform. We are proud to serve approximately 5 million customers worldwide as a provider of solutions that help small and medium businesses succeed online and enhance the value of their customer relationships,” said Jeff Fox, President and Chief Executive Officer of Endurance.
“The Endurance family of brands has built a leading position in the large and growing cloud hosting, domain, and digital marketing software space. We look forward to partnering with this talented team and supporting its long-term strategic plan to drive growth through its focus on customer value. We are excited to leverage Clearlake’s O.P.S.® framework to help the Company fuel growth both organically and through acquisitions,” said Behdad Eghbali, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, and James Pade, Partner at Clearlake.
The proposed transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021 and is subject to approval by Endurance shareholders, along with the satisfaction of customary closing conditions (including antitrust regulatory clearance). Clearlake will finance the transaction with a combination of committed equity financing from the Clearlake funds and has secured committed debt financing for the proposed transaction, which is not subject to any financing condition. Upon completion of the acquisition, Endurance will become a wholly owned affiliate of Clearlake.
For further information regarding the terms and conditions contained in the definitive merger agreement, please see Endurance’s Current Report on Form 8-K, which will be filed in connection with this transaction.
Given today’s announcement, Endurance is releasing its third quarter 2020 financial results concurrent with this announcement. The Company does not intend to hold a conference call on Thursday, November 5, 2020 to discuss earnings as previously announced.
Centerview Partners and Goldman Sachs are acting as co-financial advisors and WilmerHale as corporate counsel to Endurance.
J.P. Morgan, BofA Securities, Deutsche Bank Securities, and UBS Investment Bank provided committed debt financing, and alongside Rothschild & Co and Lazard acted as financial advisors to Clearlake. Sidley Austin LLP is serving as corporate/M&A counsel and Kirkland & Ellis LLP as financing counsel to Clearlake.
The deal won’t close until next year and it’s unlikely there will be any immediate impact on the company or its staff. However investment companies don’t generally make passive investments. They’ll want to get a return on their investment, so expect to see changes coming as they try to realise that.
