The security vendor Blue Coat is set to return to public markets following a $2.4bn (£1.6bn) acquisition by private investors Bain Capital.
The purchase follows three years after Blue Coat’s decision to turn private in a $1.3bn (£860,000) deal with current owners Thoma Bravo, which came at a time of heightened scrutiny of the company over the use of its products in Syria.
Since then the firm has made a number of acquisitions in anti-malware, analytics and security certificates, and virtualisation networks, and has focused on building a global cloud security infrastructure.
Gregory Clark, chief executive at Blue Coat, said: "Blue Coat has differentiated products for protecting enterprises from even the most sophisticated threats, and we are proud to be a foundational part of the security architecture for the world’s largest enterprises.
"The world’s most trusted brands use Blue Coat, and the acquisition by Bain Capital sets us on the trajectory to further grow our portfolio, better serve our customers and help us prepare to return to the public markets."
The purchase, which is all-cash, was supported by Goldman Sachs, which provided financial advice to Blue Coat, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, which provided legal advice.
David Humphrey, a managing director at Bain Capital, said: "We are excited by the opportunity to work with Blue Coat’s world-class management team to grow the business organically and through acquisitions, and to ultimately return the company to the public markets.
"We are very impressed with the profitable growth the company has demonstrated and believe strongly in the future growth of the cyber security market and Blue Coat’s position in this important sector."
