Blue Coat eyes stock market return

Security vendor says $2.4bn acquisition by Bain Capital paves the way for return to stock market

Blue Coat has been acquired by investor Bain Capital as it eyes a return to the stock market.

Bain snapped up the security vendor from its previous venture capital firm Thoma Bravo in an all-cash transaction valued at about $2.4bn (£1.6bn).

Back in 1999, the firm known as CacheFlow - which later became Blue Coat in 2002 – floated on the stock exchange for the first time. Ten years after the Blue Coat name was introduced, in 2012, it was taken private by Thoma Brava.

Today's agreement with Bain signals Blue Coat's intentions to go public once again.

"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," said Blue Coat's chief executive Gregory Clark.

"Bain Capital has a long history of accelerating growth, and I look forward to partnering with them in our journey to be one of the top-performing security companies in the world."

Bain Capital's managing director David Humphrey 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."