Sophos buys Secureworks for $859 mln to beef up cybersecurity portfolio (updated)

Secureworks

21/10/2024 15:39

(Recasts paragraph 1, adds shares in paragraph 2)
       Oct 21 (Reuters) - 
    Thoma Bravo-backed cybersecurity firm Sophos said on Monday
it would acquire Secureworks  SCWX.O  from Dell Technologies
 DELL.N  for $859 million in cash to strengthen its product
lineup for enterprise customers.
  
    Secureworks shareholders, including Dell, will receive $8.50
per share. The stock fell 1.5% to $8.35 in early trading.
    Founded in 1998, Secureworks' flagship cloud-based platform
Taegis helps detect advanced threats, according to its website.
    But the company has struggled to differentiate its products 
in its race with bigger cybersecurity providers. It reported a
quarterly loss of 17 cents per share in the quarter ended July
31.
    Its owner Dell had investment bankers from Morgan Stanley
and Piper Sandler assess takeover interest from potential
buyers, including private equity firms, after earlier
unsuccessful sale attempts, Reuters had reported.
    Dell acquired Secureworks for $612 million in 2011 before
listing its shares through an initial public offering in New
York in 2016. It earlier explored a sale of Secureworks in 2019.
    Thoma Bravo, meanwhile, is building a portfolio of
cybersecurity assets and had acquired UK's Darktrace for around
$5.3 billion earlier this year.
    The transaction is expected to close in early 2025.

 (Reporting by Rishi Kant in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay
Kishore)
 ((Rishi.Kant@thomsonreuters.com;))