• by Ray Schultz , December 7, 2021

Email security firm Mimecast Limited is being acquired by Permira, a global equity firm, for $80 per share in an all-cash deal in a $5.8 billion transaction.

The price represents a premium of roughly 16% over Mimecast’s closing stock price on October 27, 2021. The shares were valued at $68.94 on October 27.

 “This transaction follows a strategic process overseen and directed by an independent Special Committee of the Board of Directors that included discussion with a number of strategic and financial parties,” says Robert Schechter, independent director of Mimecast and chair of the Special Committee.

Schechter adds that the purchase will deliver “significant immediate cash value" to the firm's shareholders.

Mimecast reported revenue of $501.4 million for its fiscal 2021, which ended in the spring -- a 17% increase over the prior year. Its Q1 2022 revenue totaled $142.5 million, a 24% hike YoY. 

“Email is the leading vector for cyberattacks, and phishing and impersonation attempts are continuously evolving,” Permira Partners Michail Zekkos and Ryan Lanpher state. “This means there has never been more urgency or need for organizations to protect their critical data and infrastructure.”

The purchase is expected to close in the first half of 2022, subject to the usual closing conditions,

In a separate development, Mimecast announced an integration to provide its services for users of Secureworks Taegis XDR. The arrangement provides a single console for investigating and rapidly responding to threats in an automated way, the firm says.