FILE PHOTO: A Specialist trader wears a Yext vest during the company's IPO on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
(Reuters) -Yext's CEO Michael Walrath has proposed taking the search optimization company private in a deal valued at about $1.1 billion, it said on Monday, sending shares up 9% in early trading.
Walrath, who owns 2.8% of the company's shares according to data compiled by LSEG, offered $9.00 per share in cash for the stock he does not already own — a premium of 11.2% to Friday's closing price.
