Thoma Bravo buys Coupa Software for $8B, but will that price satisfy shareholders?

TechCrunch Newsletter [TechCrunch logo]( [The Daily Crunch logo]( By [Christine Hall]( and [Haje Jan Kamps]( Monday, December 12, 2022 It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Of course, we are referring to that time of year when all the startup chaos continues apace, and we are just hanging on for dear life to see how it all ends, clinging to our cups of hot chocolate, as holiday-appropriate music is wrapping around us like a warm blanket. Ahhh. — [Christine]( and [Haje]( [ image] Image Credits: Sundry Photography / Getty Images The TechCrunch Top 3 - [We’ll have what they’re having](: [Ron]( and [Alex]( wrote last week about [Coupa’s investors warning]( that a sale to private equity would not be good for the company. Well, today we learned that Thoma Bravo is acquiring Coupa as the private equity firm continues its M&A rampage. It should make for some interesting investor opinion: [Ron]( reports that the company is being acquired for $81 a share, or $8 billion. Some investors were pushing for $95 a share. - [“Cloudy” skies ahead](: Microsoft is acquiring a 4% stake in the London Stock Exchange Group as part of a 10-year cloud partnership, [Paul]( writes. - [This chair is juuuuust right](: Acquiring the right furniture is a battle between finding good-quality items and finding items that are in stock and don’t cost a fortune to obtain. Nigerian startup Taeillo raised $2.5 million in fresh capital to develop its online furniture store, which it says offers lower-priced items at a fraction of the wait time, [Tage]( writes. [SOC 2 in 2 Weeks. Only with Vanta.]( Sponsored by [Vanta]( [Vanta is running a pilot for select companies where we'll work closely with you to get your SOC 2 Type I in just 14 days. This can help you close more deals, hit your revenue targets, and start laying a foundation of security best practices.]( [Get Started Now]( Startups and VC FTX’s fallen CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, is [scheduled to testify tomorrow as a witness before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services](, reports [Jacquelyn](. The committee is investigating the events that led up to FTX’s implosion, which resulted in the crypto exchange filing for bankruptcy last month. And we have five more for you: - Jumping Jack Flash, it’s a CO2, CO2, CO2:[Sydney-based Pathzero helps investors track their portfolios’ carbon emissions](, by[Catherine](. - Time to wear eye masks, perhaps: [Connie]( talks with economist Paul Kedrosky, wondering if [ChatGPT is a “virus that has been released into the wild.”]( - Where’s the money?: Potentially huge shake-up in university endowments, as proposed legislation would [force U.S. higher education endowments to reveal where they invest](, reports [Dominic-Madori](. - Bringing robotics to more small biz:[Robco links up with $14 million led by Sequoia to bring modular robotics to industrial SMBs](, writes [Ingrid](. - I am the gasman: [Avarni is building a comprehensive dataset to analyze supply chain emissions](, reports [Catherine](. How to implement a video SEO strategy For anyone who runs a website, “pivot to video” has become a sour joke. If your startup is shaping up its video content strategy, a wholesale shift isn’t required: instead, conduct a content audit to identify areas where interactive content can drive growth, such as testimonials, product announcements and webinars. In a guide for first-timers, SEORadar creator Mark Munroe shares a checklist for preparing a video SEO strategy that boosts traffic and generates leads. “Getting a sustained jump in web traffic is every SEO strategist’s dream, and video is [a] no-brainer way to do it,” writes Munroe. Three more from the TC+ team: - You’re definitely doing this wrong: [The one slide 99% of founders get wrong when fundraising](, by[Haje](. - Warm up the credit card, it’s shopping season: [Private equity could be gearing up to shop for vulnerable tech companies](, muses [Alex](. - Here’s one we baked earlier: [Eric Tarczynski]( contributes a post about the 5 lessons his firm learned from [building a venture fund from scratch](. [TechCrunch+]( is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack.[You can sign up here](. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription! [How to implement a video SEO strategy image] Image Credits: George / Getty Images Big Tech Inc. Layoffs seem to have hit the world of gaming. [Ingrid]( reports that Playtika — a publicly traded Israeli technology company whose online gambling and other gaming titles have been played by hundreds of millions of people — [laid off 610 workers](, or about 15% of its staff. It also shut down three of its gaming titles amid a broader company restructuring. Meanwhile, we are going to warn you right now, if you are not interested in anything Twitter is doing, skip down to the story listings. For the rest of you, in today’s “All Things Twitter” digest, we have a collection of stories, most related to Twitter Blue. [Kyle]( has your details about [Blue for Business]( and that gold check mark you keep seeing, while [Ivan]( writes that Twitter will use [phone number verification]( for future Blue subscriber purchases. [Aisha]( has you covered on the [Community Notes feature](, and [Rebecca]( reports on the [verification process relaunch]( and what it means for Apple users. Here is your refuge from Twitter news: - And the winner is…:[HBO/HBO Max and Netflix]( are tied for the most Golden Globe nominations. [Lauren]( has more. - What is it with the vans?: Electric cars seem to be no problem, but when you get into vans and trucks, that’s where it seems to break down. [Kirsten]( reports that [Rivian and Mercedes paused their plan]( to produce an electric commercial van. - Who had this for their 2022 Bingo card?: If you had[Jeff Bezos and GMA host Michael Strahan]( starring in a show together, you basically win. [Lauren]( writes that the pair are involved in a new Blue Origin kids’ space show. - Well, that was unexpected: [Zack]( writes about Xnspy, which developed some [stalkerware that spied on thousands of iPhones and Android devices](. - Someone doesn’t want to pay more:[Uber has sued the NYC Taxi and Limo Commission]( to block a rate increase for its drivers, set to begin December 19,[Rebecca]( reports. [Read more stories on TechCrunch.com]( Newest Jobs from Crunchboard - [Student Outreach Coordinator - (ATL/FL) Southeast at CodePath (Atlanta, GA, USA)]( - [Student Outreach Coordinator - Southeast (DMV) at CodePath (Washington D.C., DC, USA)]( - [Senior Integration Specialist at Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA, United States)]( - [Senior Director, Research Communications - University Communications and Marketing at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA, USA)]( - [Manager of Transportation Technologies & Communications at Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (Middletown, PA, USA)]( [See more jobs on CrunchBoard]( [Post your tech jobs]( and reach millions of TechCrunch readers for only $200 per month. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( [Flipboard]( [View this email online in your browser]( [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Service]( | [Unsubscribe]( © 2022 Yahoo. All rights reserved. 110 5th St, San Francisco, CA 94103