Darktrace, the Cambridge-based cybersecurity firm, is set to cease public trading at the end of September, following a timetable for its private equity takeover.
The private equity group Thoma Bravo agreed to an almost $5.31bn (£4.3bn) deal to purchase Darktrace in April. This marks one of the largest take-private deals for a London-listed company in recent years, with Darktrace scheduled to exit the FTSE 100 on October 1.
According to the newly released timetable, the final day of dealings in Darktrace shares will be September 30, leaving investors just two weeks before the company departs from public markets. A number of companies have recently left or chosen against the London stock market. Last autumn, Britain's largest chip company ARM went public in New York, a move widely seen as a setback for the London Stock Exchange.
In June 2023, Irish building supplies group CRH also moved its stock market listing to Wall Street, followed by plumbing equipment supplier Ferguson in 2022. Established in 2013, Darktrace is renowned for using artificial intelligence to detect hacks and data leaks within IT networks.
As a notable player in the UK tech scene, it was among the firms represented at the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in November, where global leaders and major tech companies gathered to discuss the potential threat of artificial intelligence. Thoma Bravo had previously shown interest in acquiring Darktrace in 2022, but the discussions didn't lead to a formal offer.
This news follows the resignation of Poppy Gustafsson as CEO earlier in September amidst the takeover talks. The company announced that Jill Popelka will take over from Ms Gustafsson, who co-founded the business in 2013.
Ms Gustafsson and Autonomy founder Mike Lynch established the Cambridge-based firm in 2013. Tragically, Mr Lynch and his daughter Hannah were among seven people who lost their lives when the Bayesian superyacht sank off the Sicilian coast last month.
