The DocuSign website is seen on a laptop in Dobbs Ferry, New York on April 1, 2021.
Tiffany Hagler Geard | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Contract management platform DocuSign is seeking to grow as a publicly traded company and is working to convince investors of the potential of artificial intelligence, CEO Allan Thygesen told CNBC after reports suggested the company was the target of takeover interest from private equity suitors.
“We’re focused on building a great, independent public company,” Thygesen told CNBC in an interview earlier this week at the company’s partner event in London. “I joined DocuSign as a publicly traded company. It’s a very exciting time right now, so that’s our plan.”
DocuSign, which offers a popular service that allows users to sign contracts digitally, is said to be being surrounded by suitors Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman, according to reports from Reuters and Bloomberg earlier this year, citing people familiar with the matter have been.
Reuters and Bloomberg both reported that PE firms were dueling to buy DocuSign for nearly $13 billion. A Reuters report in February said Bain Capital and Hellman & Freshman paused their efforts to acquire DocuSign because they disagreed on how much they should pay to buy the company.
CNBC was unable to independently verify the reports.
Asked by CNBC if he could confirm rumors about PE buyers’ past interest in DocuSign, Thygesen said he couldn’t “comment on anything that may or may not have happened in the past.”
Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman were unavailable for comment when contacted by CNBC.
Thygesen added that DocuSign wouldn’t rule out the prospect of a merger and acquisition (M&A) transaction in the future, telling CNBC: “If something comes up in the future, of course you can never close the door on a transaction.”
However, he stressed: “We are very focused on building a great independent company. We think we have a great opportunity, so we’re doing this.”
In February, DocuSign announced plans to restructure the company, which included a decision to lay off 6% of its global workforce, with the majority of the layoffs affecting sales and marketing functions.
The Company expects to incur losses of $28 million to $32 million as a result of the restructuring plan, consisting primarily of cash expenses related to employee transition, notice and severance payments, and non-cash expenses related to the vesting of stock-based awards.
At the time, DocuSign said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it was taking these restructuring actions to “achieve its multi-year growth objectives as an independent, publicly traded company.”
AI will have “profound” impacts
DocuSign has been trying to convince investors of an AI-driven future for the company, making several notable announcements this year of products based on the technology, as well as a deal to buy Lexion, an AI-based contract management product, for $165 Millions of US dollars in cash.
In addition, Thygesen completely rebranded the company, changing the logo and refreshing the corporate brand.
He also announced a new product focus from DocuSign called Intelligent Agreement Management (IAM). IAM is a more automated version of DocuSign’s Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) process, which covers the journey of a contract from pre-signature activities to post-signature management.
“I think we’ve largely convinced investors that adults are in charge, that they’re ahead of schedule, that we’ve stabilized things, and now they want to see how we handle these new things,” Thygesen said.
“So we’re going to do that, and when we do that, we have a very exciting opportunity for shareholders, customers, employees and everyone,” he added.
Thygesen said he expects AI to have a “very profound” impact “across all industries, all functions and all sizes.”
“I feel privileged to be part of this, at a company that I think is particularly well positioned to benefit from this,” said Thygesen. But he added: “Even if I wasn’t, I would be looking for the impact that this will have on the business, whatever business I run.”
Source link
2024-05-23 14:30:17
www.cnbc.com
