From Public to Private

From Thoma Bravo acquiring ForgeRock and Ping Identity, to Vista Equity Partners acquiring KnowBe4, there have been numerous deals in which public companies are going private. There could be more take-private deals in cybersecurity in the months ahead, Bell said.

“There are only going to be so many left,” he said. “I think there are probably 25 companies that are public. It’s if you have the capital and you can do it, it’s not always the worst play. There’s a lot that’s spent on complying with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) annual reports. Being public just makes companies think and act differently than they would if they were private. And if there are companies that have taken big hits in valuations, which most all of them have with the exception of a few, it’s a buying opportunity. I think investors, whether investing in public markets or private investors buying these public companies, it’s a chance to take the pressure off of management from kind of the public disclosure and your reporting perspective, kind of get their ship in order and then potentially go public again when markets are more favorable. But right now, it’s not a bull market.”