Sophos has been taken over by an American private equity house.
Chicago-headquartered Thoma Bravo has acquired the cybersecurity giant based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire in a deal worth 拢3 billion. The prospective deal was originally announced in October.
Shareholders received $7.40 per share, a 168 per cent premium on its debut price when it floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2015.
Sophos, founded in 1985, has 420,000 clients and claims to protect 100 million users.
鈥淪ophos begins an exciting new chapter of continued growth, success, and industry leadership,鈥� CEO Kris Hagerman wrote in a blog post on the Sophos website.
鈥淎s a private company, Sophos intends to further accelerate our mission to protect people from cybercrime by developing powerful and intuitive products and services that provide the world鈥檚 most effective cybersecurity for organisations of any size.鈥�
Amid the shift to cloud, the firm鈥檚 SaaS products now comprise more than 60% of its total billings, a figure which is and is growing 44% year-over-year.
鈥淪ophos continues to drive market-leading innovation, and we are filling the cybersecurity void left by fading, less-nimble, and less-evolved vendors,鈥� continued Hagerman.
鈥淲ith the full support and experience of Thoma Bravo behind us, we believe we can accelerate the next-gen transition we already have well underway, and get to the future even faster, enabling us to deliver enhanced cybersecurity solutions for our customers, and dramatic new business opportunities for our channel partners.
鈥淭his is a historic milestone in the ongoing journey of Sophos and a springboard to our next phase of growth and success. I鈥檓 tremendously excited about the opportunities ahead.鈥�