On July 23, Cvent confirmed the news of a deal that will make it a publicly traded company once again, putting $801 million into its coffers for future growth.
The event software company will merge with Dragoneer Growth Opportunities Corp. II, a special-purpose acquisition company, and go public at a valuation of $5.3 billion.
In a release, Cvent says it will use cash from the deal “to accelerate product innovation, increase research and development, reduce debt, and expand go-to-market activities.”
Comments from Cvent CEO and Founder Reggie Aggarwal indicate that the company’s recent focus on virtual meetings will be an ongoing priority. “The meetings and events industry has experienced rapid digital transformation over the last 18 months, with the pandemic creating a new paradigm for the events industry,” Aggarwal said. “Events became digitized through virtual and online experiences, and we invested heavily in expanding our virtual event capabilities. Now, we are engaging in a hybrid world, as in-person events resume, and virtual events remain prominent. With the increased digitization of our industry, events are ‘always on’ and have fewer boundaries.”
Among the leading investors in the transaction is Zoom Video Communications. “Cvent and Zoom share a common mission to bring people together through technology,” said Zoom CFO Kelly Steckelberg. “We believe that Cvent’s event technology is complementary to what we offer as a video communications leader, and our organizations already have a long track record of working together as technology partners and as users of each other’s solutions.”
For more insight on how the deal could change the meetings-technology niche, read this MeetingsNet article.
