Vista in Talks to Add DealerSocket, Omnitracs to Solera SPAC Deal
Vista in Talks to Add DealerSocket, Omnitracs to Solera SPAC Deal
(Bloomberg) -- Vista Equity Partners is in talks to add two portfolio companies to its deal for Solera Holdings Inc. to go public through a merger with blank-check firm Apollo Strategic Growth Capital, according to people familiar with the matter.
The portfolio companies that Vista would combine with Solera are DealerSocket Inc. and Omnitracs, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. The expanded deal would be valued at about $15 billion, the people said.
The discussions are advanced and a deal could be reached within weeks, the people said. Talks could still fall apart or the terms of the deal could still change. All of the companies are related to technology serving the autos space.
Bloomberg News previously reported that Solera was in talks with the special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, sponsored by an affiliate of buyout firm Apollo Global Management Inc. Vista took Solera private in 2016 at a valuation of more than $6.5 billion, including debt.
Representatives for Vista, Solera, Omnitracs, and DealerSocket couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. A spokesperson for Apollo declined to comment.
Vista first invested in DealerSocket in 2014, a statement showed at the time. It acquired Omnitracs from Qualcomm Inc. in 2013 for $800 million in cash.
Omnitracs has about $900 million in debt, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
SPAC deals are becoming more complicated, rolling up several targets into one. DraftKings Inc.’s agreement to go public last year via a SPAC involved merging with another company, sports data provider SBTech.
This week, risk-analytics provider Qomplx Inc. agreed to go public in a deal backed by serial blank-check dealmaker Bill Foley and Casper Sleep Inc.’s chief executive officer that involved buying two other private companies.
Educational technology companies Global Knowledge Training LLC and Skillsoft Ltd. agreed in October to merge and go public through Michael Klein’s black-check company Churchill Capital Corp II in a combined transaction valued at $1.5 billion.
Apollo Strategic Growth Capital, led by Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Patel, raised $817 million in an initial public offering last year.
Units in the blank-check company fell 2% to $10.51 at 3:04 p.m. Thursday in New York trading, giving it a market value of about $1 billion.
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