LogMeIn (LastPass) to be acquired by Private Equity Firms

Martin Brinkmann
Dec 18, 2019
Internet
|
31

LogMeIn announced yesterday that it will be acquired by Private Equity Firm for approximately $4.3 billion in an all-cash transaction. LogMeIn had a strong portfolio of applications and services for Home users at one point in time; some may still remember Hamachi, a Lan-over-Internet service, Cubby, a cloud file storage service, or LogMeIn Free, a free remote access product.

The company acquired the maker of the popular password management solution LastPass in 2015. Most consumer products are no longer available as LogMeIn started to focus on Enterprise markets.

LastPass is still a popular solution when it comes to password management but things have heated up in the space considerable. New commercial and free contenders are available and it is easier than ever to switch between services.

LogMeIn, Inc. (NASDAQ: LOGM), a leading provider of cloud-based connectivity, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement (or the “Agreement”) to be acquired in a transaction led by affiliates of Francisco Partners, a leading technology-focused global private equity firm, and including Evergreen Coast Capital Corporation (“Evergreen”), the private equity affiliate of Elliott Management Corporation (“Elliott”), for $86.05 per share in cash. The all-cash transaction values LogMeIn at an aggregate equity valuation of approximately $4.3 billion.

The transaction is expected to close in mid-2020 according to the press release and it is " subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of stockholder and regulatory approvals". The future owners plan to "accelerate growth and product investment organically and inorganically".

What does it mean for LastPass customers?

lastpass password manager menu vault

The impact on LastPass is unknown at this point in time. It is quite possible that things stay the same or that major changes to the service will be announced. LastPass customers are advised to pay attention to announcements made by LogMeIn or the private equity firms once the deal passes to avoid that they are impacted by changes negatively.

Most password management solutions support the importing of LastPass data. If things go down south, LastPass customers could switch to a number of password management alternatives such as Bitwarden, Dashlane, 1Password, or, my personal favorite, KeePass.

Now You: What is your take on the press release?

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LogMeIn (LastPass) to be acquired by Private Equity Firms
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LogMeIn (LastPass) to be acquired by Private Equity Firms
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LogMeIn announced yesterday that it will be acquired by Private Equity Firm for approximately $4.3 billion in an all-cash transaction.
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Comments

  1. Mark Warner said on January 26, 2020 at 4:55 am
    Reply

    BitWarden’s free open source password manager works great for me and my family. I had issues with LastPass and their technical support was horrible. Private Equity Firm will gut LogMeIn and LastPass for quick profit, getting rid of free home user versions of their software programs. Expect nonexistent customer support and immediate price increases.

  2. Ole said on December 28, 2019 at 3:52 pm
    Reply

    I have been using Lastpass for some years now. It had mostly been a pleasant journey.

    My main reason for considering migrate to another provider is the price.

    Some years ago I paid 12 usd a year for Lastpass Premium.
    Now I use the family version. Holding me back 48 usd.

    I consider NordVPN/Nordpass bundle, Keepass, Bitwarden and others.

    My needs are
    safe
    secure
    family friendly (sharing pw)
    use at Chrome (Windows/PC)
    use at my android cell phone
    fingerprint unlocking
    secure vault system with possibillity for another security step within the app

    pricing
    Lastpass Family at 48 usd a year + VAT is too much for me
    a fair priced “special offer” lifetime sucription would be my favourite

  3. Andreas said on December 21, 2019 at 9:01 pm
    Reply

    I used LastPass, but I did not liked it. If I generated a new password and saved it – I could not log in later. I always saw the message: “the password is not correct”. If I had a few accounts on the same platform (personal and business) – LastPass tool mixed passwords (login of personal acc and password of business acc or opposite). So I moved to PassCamp.

  4. Michael said on December 20, 2019 at 6:23 pm
    Reply

    Perhaps a good time to consider the usage of a Password Manager in the first place. For techies, they have their place, but for non-techies they can be the wrong answer. I list 14 problems with Password Managers in general, not picking on any one program, in my blog where I argue in favor of a password formula. A formula too is not the right solution for everyone, but it is a good fit for many people.
    https://michaelhorowitz.com/BestPasswordAdvice.php

    1. Anonymous said on November 27, 2020 at 5:00 pm
      Reply

      good info and creative solutions, Thanks

    2. 1PasswordUser said on January 23, 2020 at 9:41 pm
      Reply

      It’s really too bad that your site doesn’t allow comments.

  5. Mat said on December 20, 2019 at 5:57 am
    Reply

    Password Safe (Pwsafe.org)
    on Win with the dbase on cloud, Strongbox app on iOS, pwsafe for Android — access on all platforms.

  6. Craig said on December 20, 2019 at 5:26 am
    Reply

    Currently LastPass encrypts on user’s computer. LastPass itself does not have access to user’s passwords. If that changes, I’m dropping it.

  7. Joe said on December 19, 2019 at 2:40 pm
    Reply

    Wow, had been using LastPass for the last 3 years, so I hope nothing will change, but if it does change – no worries, my new NordVPN subscription came with a password manager included.

  8. Kenny said on December 19, 2019 at 2:12 pm
    Reply

    Don’t forget Bitwarden really good alternative to LastPass I’ve been using it for the past 6 months. Even has a feature to integrate multi factor into it!

  9. Beta said on December 19, 2019 at 12:12 pm
    Reply

    What alternate software can import LastPass data?

    1. IvanK said on December 20, 2019 at 9:18 am
      Reply

      Bitwarden imported all my LP data without a hitch a few weeks ago.

  10. BL said on December 19, 2019 at 10:10 am
    Reply

    I expect nothing based on this. I Know nothing about the current owner structure and it wasn’t a parameter we took into consideration when we started using it at work.

    Hopefully they’ll continue to develop and improve LastPass Enterprise and making it more user-friendly.

  11. leland said on December 18, 2019 at 10:13 pm
    Reply

    After they killed of Xmarks last year I have given up on them. LogMeIn has such a checkered past it is hard to trust them. That said I did use quite a few of their products over the years until Xmarks.

  12. Fonzie said on December 18, 2019 at 9:06 pm
    Reply

    What is your take on the press release?

    I like it. I’m going to print it out, frame it, and hang it in my dungeon.

  13. Junaid Ahmed said on December 18, 2019 at 7:21 pm
    Reply

    Used LastPass in the past. It was a very good service. Then switched to Bitwarden two years ago because LastPass extension on Firefox became very buggy when Firefox switched to Chromium extension system.
    Bitwarden is “almost” similarly good. It’s also open-source. But beware not to forget the master password.

    1. CKing123 said on February 2, 2020 at 10:39 pm
      Reply

      Isn’t this the same for Lastpass too? Forgetting your master password means you can’t access your other passwords too (unless you set it to remember your password so you are still logged in)

      I switched to Bitwarden recently, though I kept Lastpass around in case. So far, I m liking Bitwarden

  14. Kent said on December 18, 2019 at 7:14 pm
    Reply

    I would very much like to read an article on the best way to move my LastPass data over to Firefox.

  15. Ivan K said on December 18, 2019 at 5:31 pm
    Reply

    After many years of being a LastPass user, I moved to BitWarden Premium a few months back and I have been very happy. Seeing this just makes me that much more convinced I did the right thing.

  16. Sandy Falkenstein said on December 18, 2019 at 5:20 pm
    Reply

    I’m really surprised to see that RoboForm Everywhere was not listed as an alternative to LassPass. I’ve used for over 5 years and love it.

    1. Kenny said on December 19, 2019 at 2:01 am
      Reply

      Agreed. Roboform is a good alternative. I used Lastpass for years, but had some technical problems and their technical support was just plain bad. Switched to Roboform and haven’t looked back.

      It just does what it’s supposed to. Fill logins and forms without having to perform 9 clicks to do so.

  17. Petey said on December 18, 2019 at 4:50 pm
    Reply

    Shame, I really enjoyed a lot of LogMeIn’s products, I expect them to be gutted or at the very least the quality to drop, to say nothing of what’ll happen to normal employees.

  18. Devastator said on December 18, 2019 at 12:06 pm
    Reply

    Hmm. Looks like keepassxc which i using is good solution.

    1. Wayfarer said on December 18, 2019 at 4:23 pm
      Reply

      Yes. I’ve yet to find anything that matches Keepass (portable.) Simple and effective.

  19. Jason said on December 18, 2019 at 10:25 am
    Reply

    I moved to Bitwarden 2 years ago and have never regretted it.

    1. Juri said on December 18, 2019 at 10:47 am
      Reply

      But you will…

      1. ShintoPlasm said on December 18, 2019 at 2:02 pm
        Reply

        Why do you say that?

      2. hesaid said on December 18, 2019 at 12:30 pm
        Reply

        There’s no reason he will. Even if they do something dubious anyone can fork it as it’s all open source.

      3. G said on December 18, 2019 at 2:54 pm
        Reply

        It can also be self hosted!

  20. Jojo said on December 18, 2019 at 9:54 am
    Reply

    Play Taps for them!

    Private equity firms are like the grim reaper. They exist to drain all remaining value from an asset before throwing it on the trash heap.

    1. Jon said on December 18, 2019 at 3:56 pm
      Reply

      Agreed. Step 1 in their strategic operational efficiency plan: reduce those expensive Engineer salaries. Reducing headcount will let them focus on growth through marketing and sales.
      Fortunately, there’s opportunity to co-own all Saas platforms. It’ll just take a while.

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