Bain Capital acquires Blue Coat Systems

Blue Coat Systems recently announced the completion of its previously reported acquisition by funds advised by Bain Capital. Bain Capital acquired Blue Coat from Thoma Bravo, LLC, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.4 billion.

Blue Coat offers an integrated portfolio of security products to combat today’s advanced threats with solutions that have become the de facto standard for much of the Fortune Global 500. Backing the strength of its solutions, Blue Coat also has the largest, most robust global cloud security infrastructure, which integrates with its on premise solutions to offer hybrid defense, anytime, anywhere. The company has increased market share and expanded its global leadership position in cybersecurity to encompass web protection, advanced threat defense, encrypted traffic management, incident response and forensics.

“Blue Coat has strengthened and expanded our product portfolio, leading to more value for our customers while positioning the company for the next stage of growth in partnership with Bain Capital,” said Gregory S. Clark, chief executive officer, Blue Coat Systems, “We have benefitted from Thoma Bravo’s insight and support and look forward to continued progress and innovation with the help of Bain Capital as we build the business to become one of the top performing security companies in the world.”

“Blue Coat is a leader in the enterprise security market with its innovative product portfolio and 80 percent of the Fortune 500 as customers who entrust Blue Coat to help protect their networks,” said David Humphrey, managing director at Bain Capital. “We are excited to help Blue Coat further grow the business and potentially return to the public markets.”

Goldman, Sachs and Co. served as financial advisor to Blue Coat. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati acted as legal advisor to Blue Coat. Jefferies Finance LLC provided financing commitments, and Jefferies LLC acted as sole financial advisor to Bain Capital. Ropes and Gray LLP acted as legal counsel, and PwC LLP served as accounting advisor to Bain Capital.