- EU queries X over cut to content moderation resources
- Chad opposition candidate's party condemns 'threats and violence'
- Remastered Beatles movie 'Let It Be' gets long-awaited re-release
- Dortmund, Bayern runs put Leverkusen title in perspective: Alonso
- Flood-hit Kenya reports dozens of cholera cases
- Nadal welcomes unusual role of underdog
- Hong Kong demands online platforms remove banned protest song
- Prince Harry in London, but not meeting King Charles
- Spain prosecutors seek to close Shakira tax fraud case
- Hope dwindles in S.Africa 48 hours after deadly building collapse
- Tunisian Olympic champion Hafnaoui raises doubts about title defence
- BMW says EU probe into China EV subsidies against free trade
- Dozens of cholera cases reported in flood-hit Kenya
- April temperatures in Indonesia hottest for more than four decades
- China's Xi welcomed with 'respect and love' in Serbia
- Israel pounds Gaza as truce talks resume
- What a feet: Viral Dutch artist paints 10 pictures at once
- Ukraine warns of outages after 'massive' attack on power plants
- Bubbling profits for AB InBev despite Bud Light boycott
- AstraZeneca withdraws Covid vaccine as demand dives
- Ukraine suffers new wave of attacks on infrastructure
- US long jump legend Lewis sees little scope for progression
- Palestinian symbol protest clouds Eurovision contest
- Sangakkara backs Samson as India keeper for T20 World Cup
- Spain struggles to stamp out drug trade in poor south
- Japanese auto giant Toyota posts record net profit
- Malaysia plans to introduce 'orangutan diplomacy': minister
- Table-topping Hurricanes beef up for Super Rugby showdown in Auckland
- Rubbish, climate change help boost Portugal's white stork numbers
- Europe's 'Swifties' await icon with open arms
- Israel launches fresh Gaza strikes as negotiators work towards truce
- Mongolia's wildlife at risk from overgrazing
- Toyota posts record yearly net income, revenue
- 'A blessing': Rains refill Iraq's drought-hit reservoirs
- Milking venom from Australia's deadly marine animals
- Top-seeded Celtics, Thunder win playoff openers
- US halts bomb shipment to Israel over Rafah concerns
- Global car giants seek tech allies in China's cutthroat EV market
- Mbappe denied dream PSG farewell after Champions League exit
- Celtics rout Cavs to take playoff series opener
- Kim Jong Un mourns death of North Korea's former propaganda chief
- US centenarian to marry at Normandy, 80 years after Allied landing
- Ritacuba Blanco: death of a Colombian glacier
- US restorationist solves 60-million-year-old dinosaur fossil 'puzzles'
- US touts action on irregular migration at Guatemala gathering
- China's Xi in Serbia for talks to boost economic ties
- Boeing Starliner crewed mission postponed to May 17
- NBA fines Denver's Murray $100,000 for heating pad toss
- Reus and Hummels 'close the circle' with Champions League return to Wembley
- Rudy Gobert named 2024 NBA Defensive Player of the Year
CMSC | -1.16% | 24.23 | $ | |
SCS | -0.95% | 12.58 | $ | |
RIO | -1.81% | 68.795 | $ | |
BCC | -0.73% | 129.72 | $ | |
JRI | 0.22% | 11.595 | $ | |
CMSD | 0% | 24.62 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.54% | 5.21 | $ | |
GSK | 0.2% | 44.24 | $ | |
RBGPF | 2.84% | 56.87 | $ | |
NGG | -0.03% | 69.6 | $ | |
AZN | 0.53% | 76.725 | $ | |
BCE | 0.13% | 33.505 | $ | |
VOD | -0.77% | 8.425 | $ | |
BTI | 0.36% | 30.079 | $ | |
BP | -0.93% | 37.235 | $ | |
RELX | 0.3% | 43.019 | $ |
Cybersecurity firm Darktrace accepts $5 bn takeover
Cybersecurity firm Darktrace said Friday it had accepted a $5.3-billion takeover bid from US private equity firm Thoma Bravo, which highlighted the British group's "capability in artificial intelligence".
The cash bid comes after Thoma Bravo expressed takeover interest two years ago.
"Darktrace is at the very cutting edge of cybersecurity technology, and we have long been admirers of its platform and capability in artificial intelligence," Thoma Bravo partner Andrew Almeida said in a statement.
"The pace of innovation in cybersecurity is accelerating in response to cyber threats that are simultaneously complex, global and sophisticated."
Darktrace chief executive Poppy Gustafsson said the group's "technology has never been more relevant in a world increasingly threatened by AI-powered cyberattacks".
Darktrace, headquartered in the university city of Cambridge close to London, floated on the London stock market in 2021.
The cash deal announced Friday is worth $7.75 dollars per Darktrace share -- a 44 percent premium on the group's average share price in the last three months, according to Thoma Bravo.
Following the announcement, the share price surged 18 percent to 612 pence ($7.7).
Created in 2013, Darktrace employs more than 2,300 people around the world.
"The proposed acquisition will provide Darktrace access to a strong financial partner in Thoma Bravo, with deep software sector expertise, who can enhance the company's position as a best-in-class cyber AI business headquartered in the UK," Darktrace chair Gordon Hurst said in the statement.
The pair hope to complete the deal in the second half of the year thanks to shareholder and regulatory approval.
Almeida noted that Thoma Bravo has invested "exclusively in software for over twenty years" which would allow it to bring "operational expertise and deep experience of cybersecurity in supporting Darktrace's growth".
Prior to Friday's announcement, shares in Darktrace has bounced back strongly after the company was cleared by independent auditors EY of having irregularities in its accounts.
Explaining its decision to go private, Darktrace said its "operating and financial achievements have not been reflected commensurately in its valuation with shares trading at a significant discount to its global peer group".
- Takeover boom -
The bid comes at the end of a week in which the London stock market has been gripped by takeover activity, helping the top-tier FTSE 100 index to record highs.
British mining giant Anglo American on Friday rejected a blockbuster $38.8-billion takeover bid from Australian rival BHP, slamming it as "highly unattractive" and "opportunistic".
A battle to buy UK music rights owner Hipgnosis Songs Fund meanwhile took a fresh twist after US rival Concord increased its takeover offer, slightly beating a bid by Blackstone.
Concord on Wednesday offered $1.5 billion for Hipgnosis, whose catalogue includes Justin Bieber, Shakira and Neil Young.
This is more than its original $1.4 billion offer that preceded a higher bid from US asset manager Blackstone.
O.Lorenz--BTB