by Joe Panettieri • Oct 14, 2019
And SAN FRANCISCO— Sophos, a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity, today announced the completion of its acquisition by Thoma Bravo, a leading private equity firm focused on the software and technology-enabled services sectors, in a cash transaction that values Sophos at approximately $3.9 billion.
Sophos has agreed to be acquired by Thoma Bravo, the cybersecurity and private equity firms confirmed today.
Sophos is an MSP-friendly provider of cybersecurity software and tools that protect endpoint, network and cloud services, among other areas. While some security companies are selling their latest wares directly to end-customers, Sophos has maintained a channel-led strategy — even for the company’s new managed detection and response (MDR) service.
- Sophos plans to cull its workforce by up to 16 percent and close some offices just three months after being acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, according to media reports.
- With all that competition in mind, Sophos was considering several financial moves. Sources say the company had kicked around a potential IPO in recent years but the recession sidetracked those plans. Fast forward to the present and the private equity route apparently offered less risk. Enter Apax Partners, a private equity investment firm.
Still, the European security firm has struggled with inconsistent revenue growth over the past year or two. Amid those revenue challenges, Thoma Bravo has bid $3.9 billion for the company — which represents a 37 percent premium for the security company.
Thoma Bravo owns numerous cybersecurity and MSP-friendly companies. The private equity firm also has ownership stakes in Barracuda Networks, ConnectWise, Continuum, SolarWinds, LogRhythm, McAfee and Veracode, among others.
In a prepared statement, Sophos CEO Kris Hagerman said:
“Today marks an exciting milestone in the ongoing journey of Sophos. Sophos is actively driving the transition in next-generation cybersecurity solutions, leveraging advanced capabilities in cloud, machine learning, APIs, automation, managed threat response, and more. We continue to execute a highly-effective and differentiated strategy, and we see this offer as a compelling validation of Sophos, its position in the industry and its progress.”
The Sophos board of directors has stated its intention to unanimously recommend the offer to shareholders.
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OXFORD, U.K. and SAN FRANCISCO, March 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sophos, a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity, today announced the completion of its acquisition by Thoma Bravo, a leading private equity firm focused on the software and technology-enabled services sectors, in a cash transaction that values Sophos at approximately $3.9 billion. The acquisition offer was announced on Oct. 14, 2019.
Sophos Private Equity Fund
Under the terms of the agreement, Sophos stockholders receive $7.40 USD, per share. The price per share represents a 168% premium to its IPO share price in June 2015. Stockholders voted to approve the transaction on Dec. 3, 2019. With the completion of the acquisition, Sophos’ common stock has ceased trading on the London Stock Exchange.
“Sophos is excited to work with Thoma Bravo as we begin our next chapter of growth and success, continuing in our mission to deliver the world’s most effective next-generation cybersecurity technology,” said Kris Hagerman, CEO, Sophos. “Our transition to become a fully next-gen cybersecurity leader continues to rapidly progress. Last quarter, our next-gen product portfolio represented over 60% of our entire business, and grew 44% year-over-year. And very recently, we launched our most significant network security technology ever, the Sophos XG Firewall with Xstream architecture. With Thoma Bravo as a partner, we believe we can accelerate our progress and get to the future even faster, with dramatic benefits for our customers, our partners and our company as a whole.”
Sophos partners with more than 53,000 resellers and managed service providers to protect more than 420,000 organizations and 100 million users from the most advanced cyberthreats. Its comprehensive product portfolio is easily managed through Sophos Central, a single, integrated cloud-based management platform where solutions work together for real-time information sharing and threat response with Sophos’ unique synchronized security approach. Sophos Managed Threat Response services provide an additional 24/7 security team for fully-managed threat hunting, detection and response spanning across endpoint and firewall.
“Sophos has been constantly raising the bar with its industry-leading synchronized security, advanced deep learning technology and rapid growth within the MSP channel,” said Seth Boro, a managing partner at Thoma Bravo. “We are excited to partner with Sophos to help build upon their success as they further drive innovation in cybersecurity.”
Additional Resources
- Discover the five TLS inspection capabilities needed in the Has Encryption Made Your Firewall Irrelevant? white paper
- Learn about the threat landscape and 2020 trends in the SophosLabs Threat Report
- Stay up to date on the latest security and company news with Naked Security and Sophos News
- Connect with Sophos on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Spiceworks, Instagram, and YouTube
About Sophos
As a worldwide leader in next-generation cybersecurity, Sophos protects more than 400,000 organizations of all sizes in more than 150 countries from today's most advanced cyberthreats. Powered by SophosLabs - a global threat intelligence and data science team - Sophos' cloud-native and AI-enhanced solutions secure endpoints (laptops, servers and mobile devices) and networks against evolving cybercriminal tactics and techniques, including automated and active-adversary breaches, ransomware, malware, exploits, data exfiltration, phishing, and more. Chalkduster font free download mac. The award-winning Sophos Central cloud-based platform integrates Sophos' entire portfolio of best-of-breed products, from the Intercept X endpoint solution to the XG Firewall, into a single system called Synchronized Security. Sophos products are exclusively available through a global channel of more than 53,000 partners and Managed Service Providers (MSPs). Sophos also makes its innovative commercial technologies available to consumers via Sophos Home. The company is headquartered in Oxford, U.K. More information is available at www.sophos.com.
About Thoma Bravo, LLC
Thoma Bravo is a leading private equity firm focused on the software and technology-enabled services sectors. With a series of funds representing more than $35 billion in capital commitments, Thoma Bravo partners with a company's management team to implement operating best practices, invest in growth initiatives and make accretive acquisitions intended to accelerate revenue and earnings, with the goal of increasing the value of the business. The firm has offices in San Francisco and Chicago.
Macos mojave download iso windows. Press Contacts:
Lesley Sullivan, Sophos
Lesley.Sullivan@sophos.com
Sophos Private Equity Stock
Samantha Powers, March Communications
sophos@marchcomms.com