Duck Creek had been a publicly traded company. The deal was announced today in a press release by both companies, which also said that the purchase price was $19 per share, a 46% premium over Duck Creek's last close on Jan. 6, 2023. Duck Creek will be delisted as a public company when the deal closes.
"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, in a statement. "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."
The agreement includes a "go-shop" period for Duck Creek's board to consider alternative proposals, which expires Feb. 7.
Advisors to the parties include J.P. Morgan and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP to Duck Creek; Evercore and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP to the Special Committee of Duck Creek's board that pursued the agreement; and Kirkland & Ellis LLP to Vista Equity Partners.
Vista has two other companies in its portfolio that operate in insurance: Eagleview, a geospatial data company; and Solera, which works in auto lifecycle management.
Previous Vista portfolio companies in insurance include Vertafore, now owned by Roper Technologies; Applied Systems, now owned by Heller & Friedman; and Zywave, now owned by Aurora Capital.
"Vista has an established track record of partnering with leading enterprise software businesses within the insurance industry and related verticals," added Jeff Wilson, managing director at Vista, in the statement. "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."
It was not known at the time of publication about any potential changes to Duck Creek's staffing or operations after closing.
