Buyout firms vie for cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, sources say

Trend Micro Incorporated

13/02/2025 24:47

(Adds Trend Micro's share price in paragraph 3 after Tokyo
trading opened on Thursday)
    By Milana Vinn
       NEW YORK, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Bain Capital, Advent
International and EQT AB are among the private equity firms
competing to acquire Japanese cybersecurity firm Trend Micro
 4704.T , which has a market value of 1.32 trillion yen ($8.54
billion), according to people familiar with the matter.
    The buyout firms have expressed interest in taking Trend
Micro private in recent weeks, the sources said, requesting
anonymity as the deliberations are confidential. KKR is also an
interested party, two of the sources said, cautioning that a
deal is not guaranteed and Trend Micro could choose to remain
independent.
    Shares of Tokyo-based Trend Micro were up more than 12% in
early trading in Japan on Thursday after Reuters reported the
buyout interest from private equity firms.
    A successful takeover of Trend Micro would rank as one of
the world's biggest leveraged buyouts in recent months and
signal that private equity dealmaking is starting to bounce
back, after the pace of debt-fueled buyouts was hit hard by
interest rate hikes from central banks to fight inflation in the
aftermath of the pandemic.
    Trend Micro has been exploring a sale since the company
received acquisition interest last year, Reuters previously
reported. 
    Trend Micro did not immediately respond to requests for
comment. Bain, EQT, KKR and Advent declined to comment. 
    Founded in 1988 by technology industry executives Steve
Chang, Jenny Chang and Eva Chen as an antivirus software maker,
Trend Micro has expanded its offerings to cloud computing,
network and endpoint security.
    In November, Trend Micro said third-quarter net sales rose
6% to 68.1 billion yen for a 42% jump in operating income to
14.8 billion yen, as its operating margin rose to 24%.
    The company's large U.S. rivals include Crowdstrike
 CRWD.O , Microsoft  MSFT.O , Palo Alto Networks  PANW.O  and
McAfee.
    Cybersecurity deal activity has been robust in recent years
as large corporations have ramped up spending on security tools.
Increased competition among all-in-one cyber platforms has
shaken up the industry, making some companies attractive
takeover targets for larger rivals and private equity firms. 
    Last year, Google parent Alphabet attempted to acquire Wiz
for $23 billion before the talks fizzled out. Reuters reported
in October that Advent, Bain and EQT explored a deal for another
cybersecurity firm, Rapid7.
($1 = 154.5500 yen)

 (Reporting by Milana Vinn in New York; Additional reporting by
Satoshi Sugiyama in Tokyo; Editing by Anirban Sen, Richard Chang
and Jamie Freed)
 ((milana.vinn@thomsonreuters.com))