Squarespace to go private in $7 billion private-equity deal

Squarespace,
the
website-building
platform,
announced
on
Monday
it
would

go
private
in
a
$6.9
billion
all-cash
deal
with
private-equity
firm
Permira,
after
nearly

three
turbulent
years
on
the
public
market.

Permira
agreed
to
pay
$44
per
share
in
cash,
a
roughly
30%
premium
to
Squarespace’s
unaffected
share
price.
In
recent
years,
Squarespace
struggled
to
capture
public-market
support:
It
opened
below
its
$50
reference
price
in
2021
and
never
again
traded
above
its
$48
open
price.

“We
are
thrilled
to
be
partnering
with
Permira on
this
new
leg
of
our
journey,”
Squarespace
founder
and
CEO
Anthony
Casalena
said
in
a
release.
Casalena
and
current
investors
Accel
and
General
Atlantic
control
90%
of
Squarespace’s
voting
shares.
All
three
have
approved
the
transaction
and
will
continue
to
be
investors
after
the
Permira
deal
closes.

Squarespace
competes
with
Wix
and
Shopify
for
a
slice
of
the
website-builder
and
e-commerce
marketplace.
Shares
rose
nearly
13%
to
$43
per
share
in
pre-market
trading.
Permira
will
finance
the
deal
with
the
help
of
Ares
Capital,


Blackstone
and
Blue
Owl.

“We
are
excited
to
partner
with
Anthony
and
his
team
to
support
the
company
in
unlocking
its
full
potential,”
Permira
partner
David
Erlong
said
in
a
release.

Squarespace’s
move
to
go
private
marks
a
trend
by
smaller
technology
companies
over
the
last
two
years,
some
of
which
have
been
burned
by
the
public
markets
or
believe
they
could
create
more
value
being
amalgamated
with
other
PE
portfolio
companies.
Qualtrics,
for
example,
was
spun
off
from
SAP
in
2021
and
was
quickly

taken
private
again
in
2023
by
Canada’s
pension
plan
and
Silver
Lake
in
a
$12.5
billion
deal.

Japanese
giant
Toshiba
also

went
private
in
2023
in
a
$13.6
billion
deal,
after
years
of
speculation
and
tumult,
including
a
sustained
engagement
with
activist
investor
Elliott.

Investors
are
keeping
a
close
eye
on
the
deal-making
space,
after
a
quiet
2022
and
2023
left
many
late-stage
companies
in
an
IPO
holding
pattern.
There
are
some
signs
that
M&A
is
picking
up
again,
and
some
late
stage
companies
have
already
gone
public
or
plan
to
do
so.

Centerview,
J.P.
Morgan,
Skadden
and
Richards,
Layton
&
Finger
advised
Squarespace
and
its
special
committee.
Goldman
Sachs
and
Latham
&
Watkins
advised
Permira.