ZeroFox, the Nasdaq-listed external cybersecurity specialist, has reportedly agreed to be acquired and taken private by Haveli Investments, a tech-focused private equity firm, in a deal worth USD 350 million, all in cash. The deal is expected to close within the first half of 2024.

The decision to go private with Haveli reportedly follows an evaluation by a special committee of ZeroFox’s board; the company says it believes this move will offer the best outcome for customers, employees, and stockholders, in light of volatile market conditions.

Shareholders will receive USD 1.14 per share in cash, a premium of 45% over the 90-day volume weighted average price of shares as at February 2, 2024. However, this pricing is well below the company’s 52-week high of USD 3.49/share, and the deal value is a mere fraction of ZeroFox’s USD 1.4 billion valuation at the time of its IPO announcement.

Analyst QuickTake: Several other cybersecurity firms were reported to be tendering takeover offers over the last year, including BlackBerry and Rapid7 , although these have not seen fruition. SentinelOne was reportedly also seeking a buyout, although the company later denied this after announcing healthy quarterly results in Q2 2023. IronNet had intended to go private with C5 Capital but has since filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations.