Silver Lake, CPP Investments complete acquisition of Provo's Qualtrics

Provo-based Qualtrics, a creator of experience management software, has announced the completion of its acquisition by private equity firm Silver Lake and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments). Silver Lake and its co-investors, together with CPP Investments, have acquired 100 percent of the outstanding shares in Qualtrics that Silver Lake did not already own, including the entirety of German software giant SAP’s majority ownership interest.

SAP bought Qualtrics in 2019 for $8 billion from founder Ryan Smith, just as Qualtrics was planning an IPO. The new owners announced that they had made a $12.5 billion, all-cash offer to buy Qualtrics earlier this year. A Qualtrics release said that Qualtrics stockholders, including SAP, will receive $18.15 in cash for each share of Qualtrics common stock they owned. Upon closing, Qualtrics became an independent, privately held company and Qualtrics’ common stock has ceased trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

“XM has never been more important than it is right now. To be able to go into this next chapter at our size and scale as the leader in experience management — and do it alongside some of the best investors in the world — is a part of the Qualtrics story that no one could have imagined,” said Smith, Qualtrics founder and executive chairman. “I couldn’t be more excited for this next chapter for Qualtrics.”

“Qualtrics has cemented its position as the leader in experience management, and our AI-powered platform is helping more than 19,000 organizations deliver exceptional experiences and build deep relationships with their customers and employees at scale,” said Qualtrics CEO Zig Serafin. “Silver Lake’s deep understanding of our business and vision for experience management, combined with their strategic and operational expertise and the support of our other investors, creates an incredible opportunity for Qualtrics to accelerate our innovation and category leadership.”

“We believe deeply in the incredible opportunity ahead for Qualtrics as they continue to pave the way as the leader in experience management,” said Egon Durban, co-CEO of Silver Lake. “The leadership team has a powerful vision, and we are excited to continue our partnership with Ryan and Zig alongside the other investors to support Qualtrics as it realizes its full potential as an independent, private company.”

“This is a unique opportunity to invest in a category creator led by a strong management team that is shaping a rapidly growing market,” said Hafiz Lalani, managing director and head of direct private equity at CPP Investments. “We look forward to supporting the Qualtrics team in driving continued innovation as they help clients re-define their customer and employee experiences around the world.”

Silver Lake is a global technology investment firm, with more than $92 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital. It has offices in North America, Europe and Asia. Silver Lake’s portfolio companies collectively generate more than $272 billion of revenue annually and employ approximately 681,000 people globally.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is a professional investment management organization that manages an investment fund for its 21 million contributors and beneficiaries of the Canada Pension Plan. Headquartered in Toronto, it has offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney. As of Dec. 31, the fund totaled $536 billion.