Sophos, the global cyber security software provider, has confirmed a takeover offer of USD 7.40 per share from US-based private equity company Thoma Bravo, valuing the company at around USD 3.9 billion. This will take the company private again, after its listing on the London stock market in 2015.
The Sophos board of directors plan to unanimously recommend the offer to shareholders. The price represents a 37 percent premium on the last closing price of the stock. Thoma Bravo sees the acquisition as a chance to increase its exposure to the growing cyber security market.
Sophos delivers cloud-enabled end-user and network security products, and has more than 400,000 customers in over 150 countries worldwide. It also has more than 47,000 channel partners and over 100 million users.
Thoma Bravo was previously named a possible bidder for Symantec. Its other investments in the security sector include McAfee, Veracode, Infogix, Compuware, Empirix and Dynatrace, among others.
