Elliott Management to privatize Gigamon in $1.6 billion deal

Elliott Management, a private investment firm known for shareholder activism, will acquire Gigamon for $38.50 per share in cash, for a total value of approximately $1.6 billion, making Gigamon a privately-held company. Elliott Management and its affiliates currently hold a 7.0% equity voting stake in Gigamon.

Under the deal, Gigamon shareholders will receive $38.50 in cash for each share of Gigamon common stock held.

“We are pleased to announce this transaction, which delivers immediate cash value to our shareholders upon closing at a premium to our unaffected stock price,” said Paul Hooper, Chief Executive Officer of Gigamon. “The Gigamon Board, with the assistance of independent financial and legal advisors, conducted a thorough review of options to enhance shareholder value and unanimously concluded that entering into this agreement with Elliott represents the best way to maximize value.”

“As the leading provider of visibility solutions that enable enterprises to guard against network and data breaches, Gigamon has a strong track record of innovation and delivering customer value that makes it a compelling investment,” said Jesse Cohn, Partner at Elliott. “In partnership with Evergreen Coast Capital, our private equity affiliate, this is a landmark transaction in our long history of investing in leading enterprise technology businesses.”

Gigamon’s recent revenue trends

         2017                        2016

Q3    $79.2 million          $83.5 million

Q2    $69.1 million          $75.1 million

Q1    $69.6 million          $66.9 million