Nasdaq-listed e-mail security solutions provider Mimecast has entered into a definitive agreement whereby funds advised by Permira, a global private equity firm, will acquire the company.
Mimecast was co-founded by South Africans Peter Bauer and Neil Murray in 2013.
In a statement, Mimecast says under the terms of the agreement, Permira will acquire all outstanding ordinary shares of Mimecast for $80 per share in an all-cash transaction that values Mimecast at an equity value of approximately $5.8 billion.
Bauer, who was born and raised in SA, trained as a Microsoft systems engineer and began working with corporate messaging systems in the mid-1990s, before moving to the UK where Mimecast was founded.
Co-founder Murray was previously CTO of Global Technology Services and founder of Pro-Solution.
“Today is an exciting milestone for Mimecast as we begin a new chapter for our company,” says Bauer, chairman and chief executive officer 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 cyber security and resilience of organisations around the world. This is a great outcome for our company and our stakeholders."
“We have long admired Mimecast, its management team and its talented employees,” say Permira partners Michail Zekkos and Ryan Lanpher.
“E-mail is the leading vector for cyber attacks, and phishing and impersonation attempts are continuously evolving. This means there has never been more urgency or need for organisations 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 the team on their next phase of growth.”
Pierre Pozzo, principal at Permira, adds: “Mimecast is widely recognised as an established leader and innovator in the e-mail security space, with a strong and growing position in the enterprise market. We share the company’s belief in the significant opportunity ahead in cyber security 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 organisation in order to drive further growth.”
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Mimecast shareholders and receipt of regulatory approvals.
Upon completion of the transaction, Mimecast will become a privately held company and the ordinary shares of Mimecast will no longer be listed on any public market.
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