Exclusive-New Relic to explore sale options amid takeover interest -sources
By Krystal Hu and Anirban Sen
(Reuters) -New Relic Inc, the U.S. enterprise software program firm focused by activist hedge fund Jana Companions, is getting ready to discover a possible sale following curiosity from personal fairness corporations, sources acquainted with the matter informed Reuters. New Relic is in talks to rent monetary advisers to discover choices that would come with a sale, the sources stated, cautioning that no deal is definite. The sources requested anonymity as a result of the matter is confidential.
A spokesperson for New Relic declined to remark.
New Relic shares jumped on the information and ended buying and selling on Wednesday up 17% at $61.28, giving the corporate a market worth of $4.1 billion.
The San Francisco-based firm develops cloud-based software program to assist web sites and utility homeowners monitor the efficiency of their companies. Based in 2008, the corporate listed within the inventory market in 2014. In recent times, New Relic’s progress has slowed because it tries to compete in opposition to different Software Efficiency Monitoring (APM) distributors corresponding to Dynatrace and Datadog. It reported 14,800 energetic buyer accounts in the latest quarter, down from 15,400 in June 2020. New Relic generated income of $786 million in fiscal yr 2022, up 18% year-over-year, whereas its loss widened to $229 million from $171 million. It shares have misplaced half of its worth since November 2021. Final month, New Relic appointed Kevin Galligan, a companion at Jana Companions, to its board as a part of a cooperation settlement, and Jana has elevated their stake within the firm to five.3%, based on a submitting. Jana Companions is thought for pushing for a sale of the businesses it takes a stake in. Zendesk Inc, one other Jana goal, agreed to be offered final month for $10.2 billion to a consortium of personal fairness corporations led by Hellman & Friedman and Permira.
(Reporting by Krystal Hu and Anirban Sen in New York; Enhancing by Lisa Shumaker)
