Vista Equity to buy Pluralsight in $3.5bn deal

Private equity firm Vista Equity Partners has agreed to buy software maker Pluralsight in a $3.5bn deal.

Under the terms of the agreement, Vista, in partnership with its institutional co-investors including Partners Group, will pay $20.26 per share in an all-cash transaction.

Headquartered in Utah, Pluralsight provides technology workforce development solutions, including skills intelligence, skills development and engineering management capabilities. The company’s two products, Pluralsight Skills and Pluralsight Flow, are used by more than 17,000 customers, including 70% of Fortune 500 companies.

Aaron Skonnard, co-founder and chief executive officer of Pluralsight, said: "Today’s announcement is an exciting milestone for Pluralsight as we begin the next phase of our evolution. Through this partnership with Vista, we will be able to move faster and be more agile, accelerate our strategic vision and, ultimately, deliver deeper, more powerful solutions that help companies adapt and thrive in the digital age.

"We are relentlessly focused on helping enterprises improve and optimize their technology workforce and providing the most effective path to skills transformation for their technology teams. The global Vista ecosystem of leading enterprise software companies provides significant resources and institutional knowledge that will open doors and help fuel our growth. We’re thrilled that we will be able to leverage Vista’s expertise to further strengthen our market leading position."