US private equity group to buy Sophos for £3.1bn
Latest in a wave of investments by software-focused buyout group Thoma Bravo
US private equity group Thoma Bravo has agreed to buy Sophos in a deal which values the British cyber security group at £3.1bn including net debt.
The deal is the latest in a wave of investments by the software-focused American buyout group, which has made a series of aggressive bets in recent years, and its first outside of the US.
Sophos shareholders will receive $7.40 in cash for each share, a premium of 37 per cent to the company’s closing price on Friday, the companies said in a statement on Monday morning.
The deal would cap a brief stay on the public markets for Sophos, which was floated by private equity group Apax Partners in 2015 for £1bn in one of the UK tech sector’s most high-profile IPOs.
The Oxfordshire-based business, which sells security software to small and medium-sized businesses, has faced a bumpy 18 months: shares tumbled in last November and again in January after it warned on slowing growth, but have since staged a limited recovery.
“Thoma Bravo has deep sector expertise in cyber security software as well as a long and successful record of partnering with and investing in its portfolio companies to support long-term growth and success,” said the group’s chairman Peter Gyenes.
For San Francisco-based Thoma Bravo, the deal offers greater exposure to the growing cyber security market. It currently manages private equity funds representing more than $35bn of capital, and has completed more than 200 acquisitions representing over $50bn in enterprise value, including a $3.7bn deal in February to buy US financial group Ellie Mae.
“The global cyber security market is evolving rapidly, driven by significant technological innovation, as cyber threats to business increase in scope and complexity,” said Seth Boro, a managing partner at Thoma Bravo.