If you booked a campsite, signed up for a 10K or bought a fishing license online in 2011, Active Network probably took your money. The San Diego company began in 1998 as Racegate, a site for race registrations. By its IPO it served more than 47,000 organizations and handled over 70 million sign-ups a year. Its pitch was simple: the people who ran events were drowning in paper forms.

From Racegate to ActiveWorks

Active Network launched its platform in 1999. Organizers used its software to take registrations, collect payments and manage their events. Consumers found those events on Active.com. Over time the company added park reservations through ReserveAmerica and corporate conference sign-ups through RegOnline. David Alberga served as chairman and chief executive. The bet was that one network could serve a local swim league and a state park system at the same time.

Fifteen Dollars and a Tender Offer

Active Network priced at $15 a share in May 2011 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange as ACTV. The offering raised $165 million, part of it for selling shareholders. Two years later Vista Equity Partners made a tender offer of $14.50 a share in cash, a deal worth about $1.05 billion. That was just under the IPO price. Vista took Active private, and the stock left the exchange in November 2013.

Cover: Campfire, Adirondacks, Winslow Homer. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a campfire in the woods (campsites and outdoor events).