In this photo illustration, the DarkTrace logo is displayed on a smartphone with stock market percentages in the background.
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LONDON – British cybersecurity company Darktrace announced on Friday that it has agreed to acquire U.S. private equity giant Thoma Bravo for $5.315 million in all cash.
Darktrace shares were up 17% at 10:26 a.m. London time.
Under the terms recommended by the board, investors will receive $7.75 in cash for each share held.
The company’s privatization would be seen as a major blow to its listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2021. Not as good as American or Asian companies.
Darktrace specifically cited its belief that it was undervalued in the UK as a reason for the sale. The company said in a statement that its board believed the company’s operational and financial “achievements” were not reflected in its valuation and that its shares were trading at a “significant discount to global peers.”
Darktrace was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Cambridge, England. It has attracted many technology companies to gather in the past decade. The company specializes in providing AI-based cloud attack protection for large companies and events, and has approximately 2,300 employees worldwide.
Thoma Bravo said the acquisition will increase its exposure to the large and growing cybersecurity market, and the investment in Darktrace will help expand the scale of its global business.
The transaction represents a 44.3% premium to Darktrace’s average volume-weighted share price in the three months ended April 25, according to the release.
Darktrace said on Friday it had rejected a previous unsolicited takeover bid from Thoma Bravo after the tech company assessed they had not fairly valued the business.
The company has faced several challenges since going public, including a short-selling attack in 2023 that led it to defend its accounting practices.it also tries to distance itself Co-founder Mike Lynch faces fraud charges in US
Shadow stock price.
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