Quest Software Up 21% After Private Buyout Proposal

Shares of Quest Software

are up 21% after the company announced it would private for $23/share. The company today announced that it had entered into definitive agreements with affiliates of Insight Venture Partners, under which stockholders not affiliated with the buyout group would receive $23.00 per share in cash, valuing the Company at approximately $2.0 billion. The shares of Chairman and CEO Vinny Smith, who will continue to lead the Company after the closing of the proposed transaction, will be “rolled over” into the surviving privately owned entity. The purchase price represents a 19-percent premium to the closing price on March 8, 2012. The proposed merger with an affiliate of Insight was negotiated and unanimously recommended to the Board by a Special Committee of the Company's Board of Directors, which comprised three independent and disinterested directors. The Special Committee was advised by independent financial and legal advisors. The entire Board, with the exception of Vinny Smith who recused himself from the vote, voted in favor of the proposed transaction.