Merger Talks Between BMC and CA End -- Update
BMC Software Inc.'s talks to combine with CA Inc. and take the software company private have ended.
BMC, which is owned by private-equity firms Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital, is no longer exploring a deal with CA and the talks aren't likely to heat up again soon, according to people familiar with the matter.
The deal the companies were discussing would have been structured as a leveraged buyout and counted as one of the largest such deals in years, given CA's market value of $14.6 billion Thursday morning.
Write to Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.com and Dana Cimilluca at dana.cimilluca@wsj.com
BMC Software Inc.'s talks to combine with CA Inc. and take the software company private have ended.
BMC, which is owned by private-equity firms Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital, is no longer exploring a deal with CA and the talks aren't likely to heat up again soon, according to people familiar with the matter.
The deal the companies were discussing would have been structured as a leveraged buyout and counted as one of the largest such deals in years, given CA's market value of $14.6 billion Thursday morning.
The fact that the deal was even explored shows the increasing health of the LBO market as private-equity firms continue to rake in cash to invest and borrowing remains cheap. Sycamore Partners last month agreed to buy office-supplies retailer Staples Inc. for $6.9 billion in the largest LBO announced this year.
So far in 2017, U.S. buyout volume has totaled $80 billion, up 23% from the same period in 2016 and the most in any comparable period since 2013, according to Dealogic.
Still, private-equity firms have yet to come anywhere near their pre-financial crisis buying spree. In 2007, they committed to more than $380 billion worth of acquisitions through late July.
Bloomberg reported last month that BMC and CA were considering a combination.
New York-based CA makes products that are used in online applications and for mobile technology. Houston-based BMC makes software that businesses use to help run their digital networks.
Bain and Golden Gate took BMC private in a $7 billion deal in 2013.
Year-to-date, technology is the second-busiest sector for mergers globally after real estate, though the pace of such deals has slowed. There have been about $235 billion of tech deals compared with $362 billion in the same period last year, when it was the busiest sector, according to Dealogic.
Matt Jarzemsky contributed to this article.
Write to Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.com and Dana Cimilluca at dana.cimilluca@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 27, 2017 12:08 ET (16:08 GMT)