Dun & Bradstreet (DNB) agreed to be acquired by Clearlake Capital Group in a deal with a $7.7 billion transaction value that includes debt, sending shares of the business data and analytics firm higher Monday.

The sale will see investors in Dun & Bradstreet receive $9.15 a share in cash, if they give approval at an upcoming special meeting, the companies said in a statement. Excluding debt, the equity value is $4.1 billion. Private equity firm Clearlake will utilize a mix of equity and debt financing for the acquisition, while a 30-day go-shop period has been set that will allow Dun & Bradstreet to evaluate other possible proposals.

"We have been on a strategic journey over the last six years, executing a major transformation that has strengthened our business and financial results," said Dun & Bradstreet Chief Executive Anthony Jabbour. "We are pleased to be partnering with Clearlake on this new leg of that journey."

Shares of Dun & Bradstreet were up more than 3% intraday Monday, although the stock has tumbled almost 30% since the start of the year. The acquisition, which will see Dun & Bradstreet become a private company, comes more than seven months after its board said it received interest from third parties and was evaluating inquiries and strategic alternatives.

"Given the ongoing strategic review resulted in a revenue headwind in 4Q24, delays in their
sales pipeline, and the general weakness in the business, we believe DNB would rather execute on its new vertical approach and turnaround plans to improve the business as a private company," RBC Capital Markets said in a note Friday, when Bloomberg first reported the potential Clearlake deal.

Last month, Dun & Bradstreet reported adjusted earnings of $0.30 per share for the fourth quarter, down from $0.32 a year earlier and trailing the consensus on FactSet for $0.32. That brought full-year adjusted EPS to $0.98, which also came below Wall Street's estimate of $1.01.

While fourth-quarter revenue rose 0.2% year over year to $631.9 million, it also fell short of the $658 million Street estimate. Full-year revenue increased 2.9% to $2.38 billion, below the Street's $2.41 billion consensus.