Permira Takes Mimecast Private Through A $5.8 Billion Acquisition
It has been announced that Permira, a global investment firm will acquire Mimecast at $80 per all the outstanding ordinary shares, equating to approximately $5.8 billion. Mimecast Limited is an email security and cyber resilience company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to protect organisations from spam, malware, ransomware and phishing attacks and has a large penetration of clients within the legal industry.
“Today is an exciting milestone for Mimecast as we begin a new chapter for our company,” said Peter Bauer, chairman and CEO of Mimecast. “Our team has done an outstanding job growing and expanding our relationships with customers and innovating our platform. Permira has a strong track record of collaboratively supporting companies’ growth ambitions and strategic goals, and we look forward to working together to further strengthen the cybersecurity and resilience of organizations around the world. This is a great outcome for our company and our shareholders.”
Robert Schechter, independent director of Mimecast and chair of the Special Committee, said, “This transaction follows a strategic process overseen and directed by an independent Special Committee of the Board of Directors that included discussion with a number of strategic and financial parties. We are pleased to deliver significant immediate cash value to our shareholders and believe that this transaction is the best path forward for Mimecast and our stakeholders.”
“We have long admired Mimecast, its management team and its talented employees,” said Permira Partners, Michail Zekkos and Ryan Lanpher. “Email is the leading vector for cyberattacks, and phishing and impersonation attempts are continuously evolving. This means there has never been more urgency or need for organizations to protect their critical data and infrastructure. With an innovative platform, world-class security controls and scalable model, Mimecast is ideally positioned to help companies both large and small protect their employees from malicious activity. We look forward to leveraging our experience scaling global technology businesses as we partner with Peter and team on their next phase of growth.”
Pierre Pozzo, Principal at Permira, added, “Mimecast is widely recognized as an established leader and innovator in the email security space with a strong and growing position in the enterprise market. We share the company’s belief in the significant opportunity ahead in cybersecurity across all collaboration channels, especially as more individuals have transitioned to a remote workplace. We look forward to partnering with the Mimecast team to accelerate the product roadmap and expand the go-to-market organization in order to drive further growth.”
Regarding the transaction details, Mimecast shareholders will receive $80 per ordinary share in cash, while Permira purchases all the outstanding shares. The Permira-Mimecast deal is expected to close in the first half of 2022, however includes a "go-shop" period until the January 6, 2022.
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