The IT Nerd

LogMeIn has entered a definitive agreement to be acquired by affiliates of Francisco Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital Corporation, two leading technology-focused private equity firms that are known for helping companies realize their full potential, for approximately $4.3 billion, or $86.05 per share, in cash. You can learn more about the announcement by reading the  press release, but here is some additional context on why this is happening.

In Francisco Partners and Evergreen, LogMeIn will gain experienced partners that believe in and are supportive of their growth and focus on customer-centric innovation. They believe that our partnership with Francisco Partners and Evergreen will help put LogMeIn in a position to deliver the operational benefits that they need to tackle even more of their customers’ most pressing and essential needs.

This proposed transaction is anticipated to close in mid-2020 and is subject to shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Until the closing, LogMeIn remains an independent, publicly traded company.

LogMeIn has been a favored choice for those who wanted free remote access. Yes, they had a paid version. But unless you used it six times a day, you didn’t need it. Now you don’t have a choice but to use the paid version as the free version is now dead according to this post. If you need to use LogMeIn, this is what the company suggests:

To continue using remote access, you will need to purchase an account-level subscription of LogMeIn Pro that meets your needs based on the number of computers you want to access. Log in at LogMeIn.com to see pricing details and a link to purchase.

I’m sure that will go over very well. As in not very well at all. You’ve got a week to transfer over to a LogMeIn Pro account, and new users can try the service free for 14 days. But I would not at all be shocked if the takeup on that is very slow because of the lack of notice.

If you want to use something else, there’s not a whole lot of choice out there that’s free. There is TeamViewer, but there’s a very short time limit on the free connections. The pricing is also a bit high for the average person from where I stand if you do want to pay for TeamViewer. But other than that, there’s nothing free unless you’re someone with some degree of IT skill that’s willing to cobble something together. Perhaps some company might want to come along and provide remote access services with some degree of security at an affordable price?

It will be interesting to see what sort of blow back that LogMeIn gets from this (if any).