8 September 2022
Darktrace plc (“Darktrace” or the “Company”)
Statement regarding termination of discussions with Thoma Bravo, L.P. (“Thoma Bravo”)
Further to the announcement made earlier today by Thoma Bravo that it does not intend to make an offer for the Company, the Board of Darktrace confirms that discussions with Thoma Bravo have terminated.
Discussions with Thoma Bravo were first announced on 15 August 2022, in response to media speculation, after Darktrace had received a number of unsolicited, preliminary and conditional proposals from Thoma Bravo.
Consistent with its fiduciary obligations to consider any credible proposal which may be capable of recommendation to Darktrace shareholders, early stage discussions took place with Thoma Bravo about a possible offer for the Company but an agreement could not be reached on the terms of a firm offer.
As a result of the announcement made earlier today by Thoma Bravo, the Company is no longer in an offer period for the purpose of the UK Takeover Code.
The Board continues to be very confident in the Company's future prospects as demonstrated by its FY22 results released today. These results showed:
- Strong growth in constant currency ARR and net constant currency ARR added driven primarily by the year-over-year addition of 1,808 net new customers.
- 9% year-over-year increase in average contract ARR, driven by both new and existing customer activity, with the average ARR of new contracts increasing by more than 13%.
- One-year constant currency gross ARR churn improved year-over-year by 1.0 percentage point, driven by continuing stabilisation in the customer base.
- The combined impact of a reduction in one-year gross ARR churn and a continued focus on upsell activities resulted in a 2.5% year-over-year improvement in net ARR retention rate.
- RPO, representing contracted revenue backlog of over $1 billion, continues to expand as Darktrace enters and expands multi-year contracts with new and existing customers, providing significant revenue visibility.
Darktrace remains unrelentingly focussed on its mission to free the world of cyber disruption and, thereby, enhance its position as a global leader in cyber security artificial intelligence.