LogMeIn Inc. could become the next publicly traded tech company to be taken private, according to information revealed in a Bloomberg report today.

The usual “people familiar with the matter” told the outlet that private equity firm Francisco Partners Management has joined forces with hedge fund Elliott Management to bid for the company. LogMeIn, which sells cloud services for holding online meetings and delivering technical support, could reportedly fetch more than $4 billion.

A $4 billion price tag would represent a hefty return for the company’s investors. LogMeIn’s shares jumped more than 8.4% on the report, valuing it at $3.9 billion.

Boston-based LogMeIn closed the third quarter ended Sept. 30 with adjusted revenue of $317.2 million, a 2.5% increase over the same period a year ago. The company’s modest overall growth hides rapid gains in certain key business units. Revenues from LogMeIn’s Jive cloud-based phone system rose 37%, to $37 million, while its LastPass password manager raked in $22 million thanks to a 64% year-over-year sales jump.

LogMeIn’s other products include the Pro Central remote computer management service and the GoTo, OpenVoice and GrassHopper communications product lines. In the event that the company is acquired, its new owners can likely be expected to shift resources to its higher-growth solutions. 

A deal could reportedly be announced in a matter of weeks. But the sources stressed that the talks with Elliott and Francisco Partners may still fall through.

Elliott’s involvement isn’t a complete surprise. A year ago, it bought a stake in LogMeIn. And last month, a report that Francisco and also potentially the hedge fund Thoma Bravo might be interested in the company pushed the stock up more than 10% in one day.

LogMeIn’s leadership is no stranger to acquisitions. The company obtained its GoTo product family in 2016 after absorbing Citrix Systems Inc.’s collaboration business line, while Jive became part of the company through a $342 million deal two years later. LogMeIn more recently picked up a startup called Nanorep Technologies Ltd. that had created a chatbot for automating customer support.

As for Elliott and Francisco Partners, the reported bid for LogMeIn represents their second tie-up on a tech deal in recent memory. The two Wall Street giants previously acquired Quest Software and SonicWall from Dell Technologies Inc. back in 2016. 

Photo: LogeMeIn