LogMeIn enters into definitive agreement to be acquired by affiliates of Francisco Partners, Evergreen Coast Capital for $4.3 billion

LogMeIn Inc., vendor of cloud-based connectivity, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired in a transaction led by affiliates of Francisco Partners, a technology-focused global private equity firm, and including Evergreen Coast Capital, the private equity affiliate of Elliott Management, for US$86.05 per share in cash. The all-cash transaction values LogMeIn at an aggregate equity valuation of approximately $4.3 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, LogMeIn shareholders will receive $86.05 in cash for each share of LogMeIn’s common stock they hold. This consideration represents a premium of approximately 25 percent to LogMeIn’s unaffected closing stock price on Sept. 18, 2019, the last trading day before a media report was published speculating about a potential sale process. The Board of Directors of LogMeIn approved the agreement and recommended that shareholders vote in favor of the transaction.

LogMeIn will have the right to terminate the definitive agreement to accept a superior proposal subject to the terms and conditions of the definitive agreement. There can be no assurance that this process will result in a superior proposal, and LogMeIn does not intend to disclose developments with respect to the solicitation process unless and until its Board of Directors makes a determination requiring further disclosure.

Qatalyst Partners and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as financial advisors to LogMeIn, and Latham & Watkins LLP is serving as the company’s legal advisor.

Mizuho Bank Ltd. is acting as lead financial advisor and Barclays, Deutsche Bank Securities, Jefferies LLC, and RBC Capital Markets are acting as co-financial advisors to Francisco Partners and Evergreen with Paul Hastings LLP, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP serving as legal advisors. Barclays, RBC Capital Markets, Deutsche Bank Securities, Jefferies Finance LLC, and Mizuho Bank, have provided committed debt financing for the transaction.

“This transaction acknowledges the significant value of LogMeIn and provides our stockholders with a meaningful and certain cash offer at a compelling premium,” said Bill Wagner, president and chief executive officer of LogMeIn. “Together, Francisco Partners and Evergreen are committed to addressing the unique needs of both our core and growth assets. We believe our partnership with Francisco Partners and Evergreen will help put us in a position to deliver the operational benefits needed to achieve sustained growth over the long term.”

“LogMeIn has a compelling product portfolio and leadership in the Unified Communications and Collaboration, Identity, and Digital Engagement markets,” said Andrew Kowal, senior partner at Francisco Partners. “We look forward to working with Bill and the leadership team at LogMeIn to accelerate growth and product investment organically and inorganically.”

“This investment builds on the strength of our infrastructure and security software franchise and we are thrilled to partner with the company to achieve its long-term strategic vision,” added Dipanjan “DJ” Deb, co-founder and CEO of Francisco Partners.

“We have deep appreciation for the LogMeIn franchise and leadership team from our long-term involvement in the business,” said Elliott Partner Jesse Cohn and Portfolio Manager Jason Genrich. “We look forward to partnering with Bill and the entire executive leadership team alongside Francisco Partners on the next phase of growth and value creation for LogMeIn as a private company.”

Christine Wang, principal at Francisco Partners also commented, "We are excited to invest in LogMeIn and support its mission to deliver best-in-class software solutions to the modern workforce.”

The transaction is expected to close in mid-2020, subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of stockholder and regulatory approvals.

Syncron Uptime strengthens manufacturers’ transition from after sales-service to products-as-a-service

Syncron launched its Syncron Uptime offering that uses Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to analyze real-time sensor data, predict failures, prescribe optimized maintenance actions and ultimately maximize product uptime.

Servitization, which is the transformation from selling products to selling products-as-a-service, has ushered in a new generation of customers that prefers access over ownership. This increasingly popular consumption preference is driving original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to shift from product-centric to service-centric business models.

When implementing an after-sales service strategy that is centered on maximized product uptime, OEMs commonly encounter a small minority of the overall mechanical failures that contribute to unplanned downtime follow a pattern that is correlated to time and/or usage, while the overwhelming majority are random occurrences. 

As a result, present approach to preventive maintenance adds to increased total cost of ownership without effectively improving availability and uptime. The only way to improve product uptime without increasing risk, plus improving cost effectiveness, is to look for subtle symptoms and pre-cursors leading up to the point of failure.

To overcome random, symptom-based failures, OEMs have been investing heavily in sensors and IoT, collecting massive amounts of data. However, it is impossible to manually manage or analyze this data in any beneficial way. The only solution is to leverage modern machine earning and artificialiIntelligence technologies – mathematical algorithms that can find the subtle patterns to provide the earliest possible indications of anomalies and failure patterns.

Manufacturers are focused on designing products that are easier and safer to operate. However, this has led to increased complexity when it comes to servicing and maintaining newer equipment. Simultaneously, the baby boomer generation is retiring and taking critical, expert knowledge with them, leaving OEMs struggling to find trained service technicians and engineers who can effectively troubleshoot and diagnose problems based on early symptoms, which can lead to a reduction in first-time fix rates.

Manufacturers’ organizational structures are designed for product-centric approach, treating sales of products, spare parts and service as separate functions, which has led to disparate IT systems and KPIs. Servitization, however, requires a new way of thinking where accountability does not end after a product sale, instead continuing throughout a product’s entire lifecycle. OEMs will be contract-bound for pre-defined performance measures that carry incentives and penalties based on customer outcomes.

Syncron Uptime has been designed to overcome these challenges, enabling OEMs to maximize product uptime cost effectively. With this new, enterprise software solution users can combine OEMs’ investments in IoT and sensor data with machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect anomalies and predict failures, leading to optimized maintenance for every complex machine in the field and improving product uptime and maintenance costs. 

It also captures knowledge and best practices for troubleshooting products with the earliest and smallest indications of deterioration in performance, increasing field service productivity and improving first-time fix rates.

The offering breaks down data and organizational siloes to enable coordination between operations, field service management and service parts planning, providing a single source of truth to all stakeholders. It also integrates with predictive maintenance work requests with field service systems and Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to make the best decisions for both the business and end customers, while maximizing product uptime and improving the overall customer experience.