UK cyber firm could fall into US hands

BRITISH cyber security giant Sophos could be bought by a US private equity firm in a £3billion swoop.

The Oxford-based tech firm’s board, biggest shareholder and co-founders have backed the offer from America’s Thoma Bravo. If approved by other shareholders, it would mark the latest UK firm to fall into foreign hands since a slump in the pound after the 2016 Brexit referendum made British companies cheaper to buy.

Sophos is a specialist in antivirus and other web security services founded in 1985 by Jan Hruska and Peter Lammer, who met at Oxford University.

They resigned as joint chief executives in 2005 and, five years later, sold a big stake to another private equity firm, Apax Partners.

Hruska and Lammer are set for another big payout under the proposed takeover, with their 8.72% stakes worth almost £500million between them. Sophos chairman Peter Gyenes called the offer for the firm “compelling” while Seth Boro, a managing partner at Thoma Bravo, said it would “support the business and accelerate its evolution and growth”.

The offer, which has the backing of 27.2% of shareholders, is worth 37% more than Sophos’s closing share price last Friday, and 45.6% above its daily average over the past six months.

Nick Hyett, equity analyst at broker Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “It’s been a rocky road for Sophos investors. Against that backdrop we suspect most investors will be reasonably happy with the offer.”

Russ Mould, investment director at city firm AJ Bell, said: “Another day, another takeover of a UK company by a foreign business. Sterling’s weakness has made pound-denominated assets look cheap and so we’ve seen many overseas firms pounce in the past few years.”