Six years after hitting the stock exchange, Jive Software Inc. is returning to private ownership.

The company, which helps brands create online portals where they can interact with their users, today announced that it has accepted a $462 million buyout offer from ESW Capital LLC. The acquisition will be carried out by Wave Systems Corp., a subsidiary of the private equity firm that was absorbed into its portfolio last year and sells cybersecurity products.

On the competitive front, in turn, Jive is set to operate as part of Aurea Inc., another business owned by ESW that acts as the parent company for its software investments. The group’s product lineup includes tools for engaging consumers across online channels and tracking how they respond that Jive’s technology should help round out. Its most complementary offering is Jive-x, which lets companies equip their community websites with most of everything from product documentation to question-and-answer sections.

The provider also sells a version designed for use by employees that will presumably find its way into Aurea’s portfolio as well. Between the the two of them, Jive’s products support than more than 30 million users who helped it generate $204.1 million in revenue during 2016.

The reason why the buyout price is fairly low relative to its sales, certainly by the software industry’s standards, lies with the fact that the company has come under tremendous competition over recent years. Jive is facing off against Facebook Workplace as well as a variety of niche but popular tools such as Slack Inc. and Hipchat Inc. that compete with the employee-focused version of its software. As a result, the firm’s market cap has shrunk from its peak of  $1.7 billion in April 2012 to just over $400 million today.

The acquisition marks the conclusion of a years-long effort from the company to find a buyer that reportedly saw it try to negotiate a buyout with German software giant SAP SE in 2013. Jive was worth about $1.1 billion at the time, which means that shareholders would have received a much bigger payout had the talks not fallen through. With that said, ESW’s $462 million bid still represents a 20 percent premium to the three-month moving average price of Jive’s stock, a respectable exit by all accounts.

The deal is expected to be completed in June.

Image: Jive