Boston-based Duck Creek To Be Bought For $2.6 Billion
The company will be acquired by Vista Equity Partners
The Boston-based intelligent solutions provider, Duck Creek Technologies, has announced its agreement to be acquired by the leading global investment firm Vista Equity Partners. In the all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.6 billion, Duck Creek shareholders will receive $19.00 per share in cash representing a 46% premium to Duck Creek’s closing stock price on January 6, 2023, the last full trading day prior to the transaction announcement. This amount represents a premium of approximately 64% over the volume weighted average price of Duck Creek’s stock for the 30 days ending January 6, 2023.
“This transaction is a testament to the value of the Duck Creek platform, the success of our strategy and the strength of our incredible team. Following a deliberate and thoughtful process, the Board approved this transaction which delivers a great outcome for Duck Creek’s shareholders, providing them a certain and substantial cash value at an attractive premium,” said Michael Jackowski, Chief Executive Officer of Duck Creek. “Duck Creek is proud to have pioneered cloud-based mission-critical systems for the P&C insurance industry to deliver a best-in-class customer experience. We are excited to enter the next chapter for Duck Creek in partnership with Vista Equity Partners to continue supporting P&C insurance carriers’ move to the cloud.”
“Duck Creek is playing an outsized role in accelerating cloud strategies and unlocking all the advantages they provide this crucial sector of today’s economy,” said Monti Saroya, Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of Vista’s Flagship Fund. “Duck Creek’s modern cloud architecture and demonstrated market traction position it to define the next generation of mission-critical technology for P&C insurance.”
“Vista has an established track record of partnering with leading enterprise software businesses within the insurance industry and related verticals,” said Jeff Wilson, Managing Director at Vista. “We are excited to work with the Duck Creek team as we look to build on their best-in-class platform and solutions, which serve many of the world’s leading P&C insurance carriers.”
The transaction, which is expected to close in the second calendar quarter of 2023, will see Duck Creek return to a privately held company upon completion of the transaction. As our readers may remember, in August of 2020, Duck Creek, which then styled itself as a leading SaaS platform for property & casualty insurers, filed for a $200 million IPO. The company was originally formed back in June of 2016 as an independent company through a joint venture between Accenture and Apax Partners after the acquisition of the former Boston-based insurance technology company Agencyport.