With the Vista Equity Partners-Cvent merger in Department of
Justice limbo at the end of the third quarter, Cvent continued to report
earnings. The meetings technology company counted $56.7 million in revenue for the
quarter, a 17.1 percent jump over the same period last year. The company’s
Event Cloud accounted for two-thirds of its income, at $39.6 million, and its
Hospitality Cloud contributed the remaining third, at $17.1 million.
Merger Progress
According to Cvent, the meetings technology company and
Vista Equity entered into a timing agreement with the DOJ on Sept. 12, under
which Vista and Cvent agreed to comply with the DOJ’s second request for
information on a planned schedule and agreed not to finalize the merger until
60 days after the parties have completed that compliance. The parties complied
with the second request on Sept. 23, 2016, and therefore cannot complete the merger
before Nov. 22.
According to a report in the New York Post based on an anonymous source, Vista Equity CEO Robert Smith turned down a request from the DOJ for more time to review the deal, putting pressure on the department to approve the merger before Nov. 22 or sue to block it. Neither Cvent, Vista nor the DOJ provided comment to the Post on the matter.
Cvent founder and CEO Reggie Aggarwal seemed confident with the merger timing, stating in Cvent's earnings report that he expects the deal to close in the fourth quarter. Vista and Cvent
previously agreed to extend the termination date specified in their merger agreement to
April 17, 2017. Beyond timing, the agreement terms remain unchanged.