Cvent and Lanyon Announce Merger


Combined company will drive event technology innovation addressing the needs of event planners, marketers, and hoteliers

Tysons Corner, Va. and Dallas, TX –  Cvent Inc. ("Cvent") and Lanyon Solutions, Inc ("Lanyon"), leading providers of cloud-based enterprise event management technology solutions, today announced the merger of the two companies creating a global meeting, event and travel technology leader. The merger is effective today, and the companies will combine business operations in the coming year.

Vista Equity Partners, owner of Lanyon, has completed its previously announced acquisition of all outstanding Cvent common stock for $36.00 per share in a transaction valued at approximately $1.65 billion.

The combined company will be privately held and operate under the Cvent brand. Reggie Aggarwal, Cvent's founder and CEO, has been named the CEO of the new combined company. David Bonnette, CEO of Lanyon, will work with the management team through the transition to a single company. The headquarters for the combined company will be in Tysons Corner, Virginia with a significant office presence in Lanyon's former headquarters in Dallas, Texas.

"We celebrate two new milestones today as we formally join the Vista family and merge with our highly-regarded peer, Lanyon," said Reggie Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Cvent. "Combined under the Cvent umbrella, and with Vista's powerful backing, we will draw on our decades of experience to push the boundaries of event technology innovation and remain focused on delivering outstanding technology, capabilities and service to the events industry."

"We are thrilled to welcome Cvent to our portfolio of high-performing software companies," said Brian Sheth, co-founder and President of Vista. "There is an incredible opportunity to upgrade and expand the technology in the enormous and largely untapped meetings and events industry. With the leadership of Cvent's highly-successful management team, working with our experienced Lanyon team, we are bullish on our ability to seize the green field opportunity ahead and remain the market leader in this segment."

Over the past two decades, Lanyon and Cvent have delivered some of the most innovative and successful technology solutions addressing the needs of event planners, marketers, and hoteliers. These solutions cover the full spectrum of the event lifecycle including event management, strategic meetings management, sourcing solutions for both transient and group business, room block management, and mobile and onsite solutions.

Aggarwal continued, "Cvent is a growth company chasing an enormous opportunity ahead of it. Our employees have been the DNA of our success and we're excited to add the talent, experience, and the products of the Lanyon team."

Combined, the companies have more than 800 technology professionals and more than 700 customer-facing support staff. As the undisputed market leader with approximately 28,000 customers in 100 countries and having powered over 2 million events and sourced over $50 billion total RFP value through their sourcing networks, the new Cvent will continue to drive technology innovation while providing customers with world-class levels of support for all Cvent and Lanyon solutions.

About Cvent

Cvent is a leading meetings, events, and hospitality technology provider with 4,800+ employees and ~22,000 customers worldwide as of December 31, 2023. Founded in 1999, the company delivers a comprehensive event marketing and management platform and offers a global marketplace where event professionals collaborate with venues to create engaging, impactful experiences. Cvent is headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C., and has additional offices around the world to support its growing global customer base. The comprehensive Cvent event marketing and management platform offers software solutions to event organizers and marketers for online event registration, venue selection, event marketing and management, virtual and onsite solutions, and attendee engagement. Cvent’s suite of products automate and simplify the event management lifecycle and maximize the impact of in-person, virtual, and hybrid events. Hotels and venues use Cvent’s supplier and venue solutions to win more group and corporate travel business through Cvent’s sourcing platforms. Cvent solutions optimize the event management value chain and have enabled clients around the world to manage millions of meetings and events. For more information, please visit Cvent.com

About Lanyon

Lanyon believes that when people get together amazing things can happen, relationships are built and business gets done. That's why we've created the industry's leading cloud-based software for managing corporate meetings, events and travel programs. From a one-to-one sales meeting, employee training or a flagship customer conference, Lanyon's unmatched software – and the data it provides – helps thousands of organizations and hotels around the world better engage their customers, reduce costs and grow revenues. For more information, visit www.lanyon.com and connect with us on Twitter @Lanyon.

About Vista

Vista, a U.S.-based private equity firm with offices in Austin, Chicago and San Francisco, with more than $20 billion in cumulative capital commitments, currently invests in software, data and technology-based organizations led by world-class management teams with long-term perspective. Vista is a value-added investor, contributing professional expertise and multi-level support towards companies realizing their full potential. Vista's investment approach is anchored by a sizable long-term capital base, experience in structuring technology-oriented transactions, and proven management techniques that yield flexibility and opportunity in private equity investing. For more information, please visit www.vistaequitypartners.com.

Forward looking statements

This press release, and the documents to which Cvent refers you in this communication, contains not only historical information, but also forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements represent Cvent's expectations or beliefs concerning future events, including the timing of the transaction and other information relating to the transaction. Forward-looking statements include information concerning possible or assumed future results of operations of Cvent, the expected completion and timing of the transaction and other information relating to the transaction. Without limiting the foregoing, the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "intends," "forecasts," "should," "estimates," "contemplate," "future," "goal," "potential," "predict," "project," "projection," "may," "will," "could," "should," "would," "assuming" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. You should read statements that contain these words carefully. They discuss Cvent's future expectations or state other forward-looking information and may involve known and unknown risks over which Cvent has no control. Those risks include, (i) the risk that the transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect Cvent's business and the price of the common stock of Cvent, (ii) the failure to satisfy of the conditions to the consummation of the transaction, (iii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement, (iv) the effect of the announcement or pendency of the transaction on Cvent's business relationships, operating results and business generally, (v) risks that the proposed transaction disrupts current plans and operations and the potential difficulties in employee retention as a result of the transaction, (vi) risks related to diverting management's attention from Cvent's ongoing business operations and (vii) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against us related to the merger agreement or the transaction. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this communication or the date of any document incorporated by reference in this document. Except as required by applicable law or regulation, Cvent does not undertake to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.