Massachusetts-based editing software and services company Avid Technology has entered into an agreement with an affiliate of private equity firm STG for an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.4 billion, including Avid’s net debt. Unanimously approved by Avid’s board of directors, the deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2023. Upon completion, Avid will become a privately-held company and its stock will no longer be traded on the Nasdaq exchange. The transaction, which will be financed through equity and debt financing, is subject to Avid stockholder and regulatory approvals.

“The companies said that Avid stockholders will receive $27.05 in cash for each share of Avid common stock,” reports TV Technology, “which represents a premium of 32.1 percent over the company’s closing share price on May 23, the last full trading day prior to media speculation regarding a potential sale of the company.”

“STG’s expertise in the technology sector and significant financial and strategic resources will help accelerate the achievement of our strategic vision, building on the momentum of our successful transformation achieved over the past several years,” explained Avid CEO and President Jeff Rosica in a press release.

“This transaction represents the start of an exciting new chapter for Avid, our customers, our partners and our team members and is a testament to the importance of Avid and our solutions in powering the media and entertainment industry,” he added.

“What began more than 35 years ago with our invention of nonlinear digital video editing has led to individual artists, creative teams and organizations everywhere subscribing to our powerful tools and collaborating securely in the cloud,” notes Avid’s release. “We continue to re-imagine the many ways editors, musicians, producers, journalists and other content creators will bring their stories to life.”

Avid’s products — used across a wide range of media and entertainment platforms — include Media Composer, MediaCentral and AirSpeed (replaced by FastServe).

“STG was founded in 2002 as Symphony Technology Group, LLC, with the singular mission of building outstanding companies in the mid-market enterprise software and software-enabled technology services sector,” according to the STG site. “In 2017, the leadership team rebranded the firm as STG.”

The firm’s “portfolio has consisted of more than 50 global companies and currently has $10 billion of assets under management.”