• US-based private equity firm Thoma Bravo is in the preliminary stages of discussions to acquire the threat detection and response startup Darktrace.

• According to a report from Reuters, the cash offer will be open until September 12, 2022, for Thoma Bravo to announce its intent to acquire Darktrace.

• Darktrace has a market capitalization of GBP 2.7 billion (USD 3.2 billion). The company stated that it also received “a number of preliminary and conditional proposals”.

• In April 2021, Darktrace went public via an IPO on the London Stock Exchange. In the following six months the company’s share price more than tripled from 250p at IPO to 945p in October 2021. However, the shares are currently trading below its IPO price but rose by 17% following the acquisition announcement.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: This acquisition will help Thoma Bravo to further consolidate its presence in the cybersecurity space after its acquisition of the enterprise cybersecurity company, Barracuda Networks (February 2018–USD 1.6 billion), endpoint security company, Sophos (October 2019–USD 3.9 billion), and cybersecurity and compliance startup Proofpoint (August 2021–USD 12.3 billion) over the last few years.</ul>