Mimecast To Become Private Through Transaction With Equity Firm Permira

Mimecast Limited entered into a definitive agreement whereby funds advised by Permira, a global private equity firm focused on transformational growth at scale, will acquire the company.

Under the terms of the agreement, Permira will acquire all outstanding ordinary shares of Mimecast for $80.00 per share in an all-cash transaction that values Mimecast at an equity value of approximately $5.8 billion.

“Today is an milestone for Mimecast as we begin a new chapter for our company,” said Peter Bauer, chairman and CEO, 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 cybersecurity and resilience of organizations around the world. This is a great outcome for our company and our shareholders.”

Robert Schechter, independent director of Mimecast and chair of the special sommittee, said: “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. We are pleased to deliver significant immediate cash value to our shareholders and believe that this transaction is the best path forward for Mimecast and our stakeholders.“

“We have long admired Mimecast, its management team and its talented employees,” said Permira partners, Michail Zekkos and Ryan Lanpher. “Email is the leading vector for cyberattacks, and phishing and impersonation attempts are continuously evolving. This means there has never been more urgency or need for organizations 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 team on their next phase of growth.”

Pierre Pozzo, principal, Permira, added: “Mimecast is widely recognized as an established leader and innovator in the email security space with a strong and growing position in the enterprise market. We share the company’s belief in the significant opportunity ahead in cybersecurity 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 organization in order to drive further growth.”

Transaction details
Under the terms of the agreement, which was approved and recommended by an independent special committee, and then approved by the Mimecast board of directors, Mimecast shareholders will receive $80.00 in cash for each ordinary share they own. The purchase price represents a premium of approximately 16% to Mimecast’s unaffected closing stock price on October 27, 2021, the last full trading day prior to a Wall Street Journal article disclosing details regarding the company’s strategic review process, and an approximately 21% premium to the company’s unaffected 20-day volume weighted average price (VWAP).

The agreement includes a 30-day “go-shop” period expiring on January 6, 2022. During this period, the special committee and its advisors will initiate, solicit, encourage, and evaluate alternative acquisition proposals, and potentially enter into negotiations with any parties that may offer alternative acquisition proposals. Mimecast will have the right to terminate the agreement to enter into a superior proposal subject to the terms and conditions of the agreement. There can be no assurance that this “go-shop” process will result in a superior proposal or that any other transaction will be approved or completed.

Mimecast does not intend to disclose developments with respect to the go-shop process unless and until its special committee makes a determination requiring further disclosure.

The transaction is expected to close in 1H22, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Mimecast shareholders and receipt of regulatory approvals. Upon completion of the transaction, the firm will become a privately-held company and the ordinary shares of Mimecast will no longer be listed on any public market.

Advisors
Citigroup, Inc. is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Mimecast, and Goodwin Procter LLP is acting as legal counsel. Qatalyst Partners is acting as lead financial advisor to Permira and BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and RBC Capital Markets, LLC are serving as financial advisors. Blackstone Credit and funds managed by Ares Management Corporation‘s Credit Group are providing committed debt financing to the Permira funds. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP is serving as legal counsel to Permira.

About Permira 
It backs growth at scale. Founded in 1985, the firm advises funds with total committed capital of approximately $50 billion (€44 billion) and makes long-term majority and minority growth investments. Its funds have a record in tech and tech-enabled investing, with a particular focus on digital consumer and enterprise cloud end markets. It employs over 350 people in 15 offices across Europe, North America, and Asia. Its funds have previously backed and helped scale some large and growing software, e-commerce and consumer technology businesses globally, including Exclusive Group, Ancestry.com, LegalZoom, Adevinta, Klarna, Genesys, Informatica.