Contract Management Platform DocuSign Following reports that the company is the target of a takeover bid by private equity investors, CEO Alan Sigesen told CNBC that the company is committed to remaining a publicly traded company. He said he is working to convince investors about the potential of artificial intelligence.
“We’re focused on building a great independent public company,” Thygesen told CNBC in an interview at the company’s partner event in London earlier this week. “I joined DocuSign as a publicly traded company, and this is a very exciting time, so that’s our plan.”
Earlier this year, Reuters and Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that DocuSign, which provides a popular service that lets users sign contracts digitally, is in a deal with suitor Bain Capital. It was rumored that he was surrounded by Hellman & Friedman.
Reuters and Bloomberg both reported that PE firms are in a bidding war. Acquires DocuSign for approximately $13 billion. In February, Reuters reported that Bain Capital and Hellman & Fleshman had paused their pursuit of DocuSign after disagreements over how much they should pay to acquire the company.
CNBC has not been able to independently verify the report.
Asked by CNBC if he could confirm rumors that PE buyers had been interested in DocuSign for some time, Thygesen said, “I don’t know about anything that may or may not have happened in the past. I can’t comment.”
Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman did not respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
Thygesen added that DocuSign would not rule out the possibility of future M&A transactions, saying, “If something goes wrong in the future, of course we would not close the door on any transaction. I can never do that,” he told CNBC.
But he stressed: “We’re very focused on building great independent companies. We feel there’s a huge opportunity and that’s what we’re doing.”
In February, DocuSign announced a restructuring plan that included the decision to lay off 6% of its global workforce, with the majority of the layoffs affecting sales and marketing functions.
The company said it expects the restructuring plan to take a hit of $28 million to $32 million, primarily due to cash outlays for employee transfers, notice periods and severance payments, and the vesting of stock awards. It said it consisted of related non-cash expenditures. .
At the time, DocuSign said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it was taking these restructuring steps to “realize our multi-year growth aspirations as an independent, publicly traded company.”
AI will have a ‘profound’ impact
DocuSign has made several notable announcements about AI-powered products and acquisition deals this year, trying to convince investors about the future of AI-driven business. Purchased Lexion, an AI-based contract management product, for $165 million in cash.
In addition, Thygesen underwent a company-wide rebrand, changing the logo and refreshing the company’s brand.
He also announced a new DocuSign product focus called “Intelligent Contract Management” (IAM). IAM is a more automated version of DocuSign’s Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) process, covering the journey of a contract from pre-signing activities to post-signing management.
“We told our investors that we had adults in charge, that they were ahead of the curve, that we had stabilized things, and now we’re going to see what we do with this new thing. I think I convinced them that I wanted to do it,” Thygesen said.
“So we’re going to do that, and if we do that, it’s going to be a very exciting opportunity for our shareholders, our customers, our employees and everyone.”
Thygesen said he expects AI to have a “tremendous” impact “across industries, functions and scales.”
“I’m honored to be a part of a company that I think is particularly well-positioned to take advantage of that,” Thygesen said. But, he added, “even if it wasn’t, I would be looking for what kind of impact this would have on the business, no matter what kind of business I run.”