A company backed by private equity firm Permira is to sell Magento Commerce, a specialist in cloud digital commerce, to Adobe in an all-cash transaction for USD1.68 billion.
Hillhouse Capital, the Asia-focused investment firm, will also sell its stake in Magento to Adobe in this transaction.
Magento Commerce was acquired by the Permira funds from eBay Inc in 2015 and received an investment from Hillhouse Capital in 2017.
“We are delighted to have partnered with the Magento management team during this period of impressive performance,” says Phil Guinand, Partner at Permira. “Magento has grown its customer-base and enterprise cloud business as a result of key investments in technology, marketing, client success, sales management and the open-source community ecosystem. Working closely with management to accelerate strategic potential is the DNA of Permira’s approach to technology investing. We were pleased to support Magento’s ambitions through our global platform and sector expertise, and we are confident that Magento has found a terrific home with one of the Company’s major existing partners, Adobe.”
“Permira was a phenomenal partner over the last three years, helping us successfully execute our global growth plan,” says Mark Lavelle, CEO of Magento Commerce. “We leveraged Permira’s deep industry knowledge, operational expertise and international relationships to become one of the most popular commerce platforms in the world. We will continue our positive momentum as part of Adobe by combining the flexibility of the Magento Commerce Cloud with Adobe’s powerful content and personalization capabilities to serve clients across every industry and every geography.”
“Mark and the Magento management team have done a terrific job in transforming the business to a cloud-first, highly customisable and scalable modern commerce platform. We wish Magento continued success in joining Adobe,” says Lei Zhang, Founder and Chairman at Hillhouse Capital.
“We appreciated Hillhouse’s strategic insight in eCommerce and extensive network in Asia over the course of our partnership,” adds Mark Lavelle.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of Adobe’s 2018 fiscal year, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory review.
Qatalyst Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor to the Permira funds; Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson acted as legal advisor to the Permira Funds.
