Credit Suisse analyst Fred Lee reiterated Underperform on Coupa Software Inc (NASDAQ: COUP) with a $60 price target.
Vista is in talks to acquire COUP, Bloomberg reported.
Vista’s founder and CEO recently (Aug-22) discussed the company valuation approach in this market.
He highlighted that the company focuses on EV/R/G, acquiring below the long-term historical average of 0.41.
Using current growth rates in the mid to high teens would arrive at a share price in the $45 area.
The average EV / LTM Rev multiple that Vista paid over the last two years was 9.7x. Vista’s historical M&A range would imply a $60 – 70 takeout range.
Raymond James analyst Brian Peterson noted that Coupa has consistently been mentioned as a SaaS asset that would be attractive to PE buyers. He long viewed the asset as a potentially attractive takeout candidate.
This is mainly because Coupa has already amassed a platform that has driven synergies through M&A and could be a vehicle for further M&A beyond the current Business Spend Management (BSM) offering.
He also notes that Coupa has not been as aggressive as some software vendors in ratcheting up pricing or pushing a back-to-base sales motion, prioritizing acquiring new logos.
In a stricter macro, he thinks the former may become more critical to the growth algorithm, which may be easier to accomplish as a private company.
While Coupa also has clear FCF margins, any PE takeout would need to consider COUP’s ~$2.2 billion in gross convertible notes, with his math suggesting net debt of ~$1.3 billion.
As for a potential takeout multiple, he pointed to recent takeouts for AVLR and PING, supporting a takeout price of $68 – $80.
Price Action: COUP shares closed higher by 6.38% at $62.69 on Friday.
Latest Ratings for COUP
Date | Firm | Action | From | To  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mar 2022 | UBS | Maintains | Neutral | |
Mar 2022 | Keybanc | Maintains | Overweight | |
Feb 2022 | Morgan Stanley | Maintains | Overweight |
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Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/analysts-see-sharp-premium-vistas-183155600.html