Software firm Alteryx to be taken private in $4.4 billion deal

(Reuters) -Alteryx said on Monday it has agreed to be acquired by private-equity firms Clearlake Capital Group and Insight Partners, in a deal valued at $4.4 billion including debt.

Fierce competition from bigger rivals such as Microsoft and Oracle as well as setbacks in winning new business suppressed Alteryx's valuation and made it an acquisition target.

Alteryx stockholders will receive $48.25 per share in cash for each share of Alteryx Class A or Class B common stock held, valuing its equity at around $3.46 billion, according to Reuters calculations.

The price represent a premium of 29.1% from Alteryx's last closing share price on Friday.

The company's stock has jumped nearly 68% after Reuters reported in September that Alteryx was exploring a sale. Despite those gains, the shares are still down 5% this year, compared with a 55% gain in the S&P 500 Information Technology Sector Index.

Last week, Reuters exclusively reported that the company was nearing a deal with Clearlake and Insight.

Dean Stoecker, Alteryx's co-founder and executive chair, who holds about 49% of the company's voting power through dual-class shares, has entered into a voting agreement to support the transaction.

Alteryx, which made its debut in the public markets in 2017, counts more than 8,300 companies as its customers, which include Coca-Cola, Vodafone, Walmart, and Ford Motor. Its platform allows businesses to quickly analyze and crunch data.

In recent years, Alteryx has transitioned to a subscription-focused business model as part of a strategy to tap into growing demand for data analytics services.

Qatalyst Partners advised Alteryx, while Houlihan Lokey, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Securities, and Morgan Stanley were financial advisors to Clearlake and Insight.

(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Anil D'Silva and Shailesh Kuber)