Smartsheet COO Stephen Branstetter resigns amid reported acquisition talks
Stephen Branstetter, the chief operating officer at Smartsheet who joined the company in 2013, resigned on Wednesday, according to a new regulatory filing.
Branstetter notified the company of his decision to leave on Sept. 13. He’ll continue serving as an advisor through Nov. 18, according to the filing.
His departure comes amid reports of acquisition talks by private equity firms. Reuters reported Monday that Smartsheet is nearing a deal to be acquired by Vista Equity Partners and Blackstone that would value the Bellevue, Wash.-based enterprise software giant at nearly $8 billion.
Branstetter was named COO in 2021. He previously held roles including senior vice president of operations and vice president of services and customer success.
Branstetter sold 1,847 shares of Smartsheet stock on Monday, or about $97,000 worth of stock, according to a regulatory filing. He still has more than 64,000 shares.
Smartsheet said it will eliminate the chief operating officer position and shift to a “dual President model with a President, Go-to-Market and a President, Product & Innovation.”
Reuters previously reported in June that Smartsheet hired investment bankers after receiving buyout interest from private equity firms.
Smartsheet shares are up more than 30% since June. Its current market capitalization is around $7 billion.
The company reported its fiscal second quarter earnings earlier this month. Revenue increased 17% to $276.4 million. The company’s operating loss was $8.5 million, vs. a loss of $36.1 million in the same period a year ago.
Smartsheet CEO Mark Mader declined to comment during the company’s earnings conference call when analysts asked about reports of the acquisition talks.
Smartsheet makes cloud-based enterprise work management technologies for managing and tracking projects, collaborating, storing data, and automating and assigning tasks, among other capabilities. It serves 85% of the Fortune 500 as customers. The company competes with Asana, Monday.com, Microsoft, and others.
Smartsheet, which launched in 2005 and went public in 2018, has more than 3,300 employees.