Darktrace takes off in London, OK for takeover bid launched by Thoma Bravo for $5.3bn

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Darktrace is flying on the London Stock Exchange after accepting a takeover offer from US-based Thoma Bravo for $5.3 billion. The British cybersecurity firm's stock gained more than 19 per cent to 617.10 pence, sitting just below the offer price, while the FT-SE 100 index is up modestly. In a joint statement, Darktrace and bidco Luke, acting on behalf of the US investment group, disclosed that they had reached agreement on the terms of a friendly offer involving the payment of $7.75 in cash per Darktrace share, roughly equivalent to 620 pence. The price represents a 20% premium over Thursday's closing price of the Cambridge-based company, 44.3% over the three-month average as of 25 April, and 148% over the 30 April 2021 IPO price.

Thoma Bravo "believes the acquisition of Darktrace represents an attractive opportunity to increase its exposure to the large and growing cybersecurity market and to invest in accelerating Darktrace's development and growth in size globally". The deal will benefit the UK company "its customers and the broader technology ecosystem through supporting the development of more advanced products and Darktrace's cybersecurity capabilities," reads the statement, which underlines the UK company's pioneering role in the use of Artificial Intelligence for security purposes.

Darktrace's board considers the terms of the offer to be "fair and reasonable" and as such "intends to recommend them unanimously" to a shareholder vote. The British company, founded in 2013, currently has 2,300 employees worldwide and around 9,400 customers. In the first half of 2024 (as of 31 December 2023) it reported revenues of $330m (up 27%), net profit of $52m (up from $581k) and adjusted Ebit of $85.5m (up 87%). Preliminary figures for the third quarter of the financial year, announced on 11 April, showed sales of $731m (+26.5%). On that occasion Darktrace also raised its guidance for 2024.