Blackstone, Vista Equity Partners reach $8.4-billion deal to buy Smartsheet

Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners have agreed to acquire software provider Smartsheet for about $8.4 billion in one of the year's largest take-private deals. The buyout firms will pay $56.50 a share in cash for Smartsheet, according to a statement on Tuesday. The price represents a premium of roughly 41% to Smartsheet's volume-weighted average closing price for the 90 trading days ending July 17, the last full trading day prior to reports of a possible sale.

Shares in Smartsheet were up 6% at 9:46 a.m. in New York on Tuesday, giving the company a market value of $7.7 billion.

PE firms have been hunting for targets in the software sector, searching for businesses that tend to have reliable cash flows and can be scaled up through acquisitions. In July, Bain Capital and Reverence Capital agreed to take Envestnet private.