Barracuda Networks (CUDA) to be acquired by Thoma Bravo for $1.47 billion in cash

    

• Barracuda provides email protection tools and has been transitioning to cloud-based security from network hardware.
• Thoma Bravo in 2016 acquired Qlik Technologies, a data analytics software maker, for $3 billion.
• Thoma Bravo reportedly has kicked the tires at Impera as well as F5 Networks (FFIV), a maker of data center networking gear.

  

Nov 27 (Reuters) - Barracuda Networks Inc on Monday agreed to be taken private by buyout firm Thoma Bravo LLC for $1.47 billion in cash, four years after the data security firm went public.

The offer of $27.55 per share represents a premium of 16.3 percent to Barracuda's Friday close. The company's shares were trading at $27.51.

Barracuda, which manages data security of its customers over the cloud on a subscription basis, competes with Palo Alto Networks Inc, Proofpoint Inc and Symantec Corp .

Barracuda will operate as a privately-held company and continue to focus on email security and data protection services. The transaction is expected to close by the end of February.

Thoma Bravo, known for its investments in software and technology companies, has spent billions buying several listed companies such as Qlik Technologies, Riverbed Technology, SolarWinds and Compuware.

Morgan Stanley & Co LLC is Barracuda's financial adviser, while Goldman Sachs & Co LLC, Credit Suisse and UBS Investment Bank were advisers to Thoma Bravo.

Long trade : TNTR +100% (11/17)

SendGrid (SEND) began trading on the NYSE on Wed 15 Nov 2017

• Update Oct 15, 18: SendGrid (SEND) to be acquired by Twilio (TWLO) for $2 billion
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• The company had priced its stock at $16 a share on the day before its IPO, which would bring in about $131 million. 
• It opened at $18.55, or 16 percent higher, and hit a high of $19.21. The price hovered around $18 for most of the morning, closing at $18.00, up 12.5 percent on its first day.

SendGrid, which got an early start at the Techstars accelerator in Boulder, built its business on transactional emails and making sure its clients got their messages to their customers’ inboxes — from Uber ride receipts and Spotify password resets to  salary updates on Glassdoor.

In the Denver tech community, SendGrid is known for its work culture and promoting its four H’s: honest, hungry, humble and happy. Many in the community expressed their excitement on Twitter, such as Erik Mitisek, the state’s chief innovation officer.

Executives and guests of SendGrid, Inc. visit the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate their IPO. To mark the occasion Chief Executive Officer, Sameer Dholakia, alongside Tom Farley, President, NYSE, ring The Opening Bell.

CEO Sameer Dholakia and SendGrid’s three founders — Isaac Saldana, Tim Jenkins and Jose Lopez — rang the morning bell to open the NYSE.

SendGrid isn’t yet profitable, but it has seen revenues rise since it was founded in 2009. In its first nine months this year, sales hit $80.2 million, which is higher than all of 2016. Net losses grew 36 percent to $4.7 million in the first nine months of this year, from the same period last year. It has also grown from three founders to 408 employees in its eight years.

Heimes said the company is going after an $11 billion email market, of which SendGrid has less than 3 percent. The company has expanded into marketing messages and is targeting international customers — growth areas that may explain why the company’s stock price went beyond last week’s proposed targeted price range of $13.50 to $15.50.