Private Equity’s Proof of Life

Private equity dealmakers are starting to get busy. The latest evidence of that was today’s news that Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners will buy Smartsheet, which sells software that helps workers plan projects, for $8.4 billion. As falling interest rates are likely at least part of the reason for the (slight) deal revival, we should see more acquisitions in the coming months. Score one for those deal-starved bankers out there.

Smartsheet is a good example of the kind of software firm that’s most likely to sell—one that’s closely identified with a single product, whose growth is slowing, and that isn’t controlled by its founder. At 19, Smartsheet is no hot startup. Its top-line growth has slowed to an expected 17.7% this year, down from an average of 37% over the past four years, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Its stock has gone nowhere for two years.