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Dun & Bradstreet

Dun & Bradstreet

Business data and analytics · taken private by CC Capital, Cannae Holdings, Thomas H. Lee Partners

Entry value$6.9BFeb 8, 2019 · deal value, including $1.5B of net debt and pension obligations Exit value$9.05BJul 1, 2020 · IPO price × shares Multiple1.31×exit ÷ entry, see below Years private1.4Feb 8, 2019 → Jul 1, 2020

An investor group led by CC Capital, Cannae and Thomas H. Lee Partners took Dun & Bradstreet private in February 2019, installed Black Knight's leadership, cut costs and began rebuilding its technology platform. Seventeen months later it was back on the NYSE. The public run went badly: in August 2025 Clearlake took it private again at well under half the IPO share price, pitching AI-powered products on its data.

THE CYCLE · CC CAPITAL + CANNAE HOLDINGS + THOMAS H. LEE PARTNERS

Dun & Bradstreet | private 1.4 years, out at 1.31×

in$6.9B→out$9.05B·1.31×·thenprivate again AUG '25

private public private again · every tag links its source

What happened, step by step

The investor group completed its take-private of Dun & Bradstreet at $145.00 a share in cash, a deal valued at $6.9 billion including $1.5 billion of net debt and pension obligations.Take-private · Feb 8, 2019
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Management Black Knight's chief executive Anthony Jabbour became CEO and William P. Foley II executive chairman at closing.While private · Feb 8, 2019
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Margins About $206M of net annualized run-rate cost savings by March 2020.While private · Mar 31, 2020
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Systems Began re-architecting its technology platform around the Data Cloud, compiled from about 16,000 sources.While private · 2020
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M&A Bought Lattice Engines, coAction.com and Orb Intelligence to add analytics and data.While private · 2020
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Debt Carried $4,049.2M of debt before the IPO; the proceeds redeemed preferred stock and repaid part of its 10.250% notes.While private · Mar 31, 2020
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Dun & Bradstreet priced its IPO of 78.3 million shares at $22.00, to trade on the NYSE as DNB from July 1, 2020.Back to market · Jul 1, 2020
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Agreed to be taken private by Clearlake for $9.15 a share in cash, a deal valued at $7.7 billion including debt, with an equity value of $4.1 billion.After · Mar 24, 2025
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Clearlake completed the take-private at $9.15 a share; the stock left the NYSE.After · Aug 26, 2025
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The multiple, read every way

IPO price × shares $6.9B take-private against $9.05B at the IPO price (411.3M shares × $22; $9.3B with the underwriters' option): about 1.3×.1.31×
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Equity to equity The $6.9B included $1.5B of net debt and pension obligations, so the equity bought was about $5.4B: 1.7× on equity. But the owners also loaded the company with debt ($4.0B before the IPO), so neither number is like for like.1.68×
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The round trip Clearlake paid $9.15 a share in 2025, against the $22 IPO price: $4.1B of equity value, $7.7B including debt.
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The 2019 value includes debt and pension obligations; the 2020 value is equity only, for a company with more debt than in 2019.

Exit value worked out as 411.3M shares outstanding after the offering and private placement × $22.

The AI angle

The 2020 IPO pitch named AI as an analytics capability; the 2025 buyer made AI-powered products its reason to go private again.

“leveraging our artificial intelligence capabilities”Dun & Bradstreet · IPO prospectus · Jul 2, 2020
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“increasing operating efficiencies to deliver enhanced business solutions across the world”William P. Foley II, executive chairman · at the 2019 take-private · Feb 8, 2019
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“we see vast potential for Dun & Bradstreet to deliver AI-powered solutions to their global client base”Behdad Eghbali and James Pade, Clearlake · on the 2025 take-private · Mar 24, 2025
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Sources (6)

biia.com /dun-bradstreet-to-be-taken-private-in-a-transaction-valued-at-us-6-9-
sec.gov /Archives/edgar/data/1115222/000110465919006848/a19-4290_1ex99d1.htm
sec.gov /Archives/edgar/data/1799208/000104746920003957/a2242014z424b4.htm
lw.com /en/news/2020/07/latham-watkins-advises-underwriters-dun-bradstreet-ip
sec.gov /Archives/edgar/data/1799208/000110465925027293/tm2510133d1_ex99-1.htm
dnb.com /en-us/newsroom/press-releases/clearlake-completes-acquisition-of-dnb.

How this is researched

Researched by hand from primary sources: the companies' and buyers' press releases, SEC filings (prospectuses and 8-Ks) and credible press. Each source logo links the page that states the row; anything we couldn't source is left out. The multiple is exit value over entry value as the sources state them; the readings above say where the two are not like for like. Updated Oct 12, 2026.