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Citrix Looks To Re-Enter Collaboration Software Space

Citrix, which is best known for its digital workspaces, is making moves to re-enter the collaboration software space. The company previously had a strong presence in the sector with its GoToMeeting platform. However, Citrix sold GoToMeeting for around $1.8 billion to the remote desktop access provider LogMeIn in 2016, following pressure from Elliott Management.

To help its return to the collaboration software market—at an opportune time thanks to remote work—Citrix has announced it is acquiring Wrike, a San Jose, California-based SaaS project management platform, from Vista Equity Partners, for $2.25 billion.

The merger of the two companies will bring together Citrix's powerful digital work platform and Wrike's innovative work management solution. Founded in 2006, Wrike provides about 18,000 customers globally with solutions that empower teams and distributed workers to plan, manage and efficiently complete work at scale. Wrike reports $140 million ARR, growing at 30% annually. However, as Wrike expects to reach $180 million to $190 million in ARR this year, the company's sale price could look like a bargain if it achieves these projections.

During 2020, project management and work management software became more popular than ever amid the COVID-19 pandemic. More than ever, businesses need specialized software to track workflows across teams that now work from scattered locations, whether at home, in the office, or in other remote locations.

The Citrix platform securely delivers the resources an employee needs to be productive in one unified experience. In contrast, Wrike's platform streamlines collaboration and work execution, providing employees with additional tools to work efficiently and securely wherever they may be. The addition of Wrike's cloud-delivered capabilities will accelerate Citrix's business model for transition to the cloud, and together, Citrix and Wrike will serve over 400,000 customers across 140 countries.

Andrew Filev, Founder and CEO at Wrike, who has managed the company through these multiple changes and remains at the helm, believes his company has landed in a good spot with the Citrix purchase.

"As part of the Citrix family we will be able to scale our product and accelerate our roadmap to deliver capabilities that will help our customers get more from their Wrike investment. We have always listened to our customers and have built our product based on their feedback—now we will be able to do more of that, faster," he said.