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☆ Vista Equity Nears Roughly $4.5 Billion Deal for Cybersecurity Provider
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Laura Cooper | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners is near a deal to purchase the cybersecurity provider KnowBe4 for about $4.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, a rare leveraged buyout as financing for such deals has become harder to secure. The deal, which is expected to be unveiled Wednesday assuming the talks don’t drag out or fall apart, values KnowBe4 shares at nearly $25 each. The stock closed at $21.59 on Tuesday.

☆ Vista Equity Strikes Deal to Acquire Cybersecurity Provider
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Laura Cooper | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

KnowBe4, based in Clearwater, Fla., is a platform for security-awareness training and simulated phishing. Private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners has struck a deal to purchase cybersecurity provider KnowBe4 for $4.6 billion in an increasingly rare leveraged buyout as financing for such deals has become harder to secure. The company unveiled the news on Wednesday, confirming an earlier report from The Wall Street Journal.

☆ Cybersecurity firm KnowBe4 to go private in $4.6 bln deal with Vista Equity Partners
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 12 (Reuters) - KnowBe4 Inc (KNBE.O) on Wednesday agreed to go private in a sweetened $4.6 billion deal with Vista Equity Partners, the latest cybersecurity firm to be snapped up by private equity in this year's market downturn. Private equity firms have been scooping up technology companies whose shares have taken a beating this year from worries over rising interest rates and an economic slowdown. The KnowBe4 deal, expected to close in the first half of 2023, will be financed through a mix of debt and equity financing. Morgan Stanley & Co LLC was serving as financial advisor to KnowBe4's special committee and Guggenheim Securities LLC was financial advisor for Vista. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: PepsiCo, Intel, Philips and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Peter Schacknow | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Intel (INTC) – Intel added 1% in premarket trading following a Bloomberg report that the chip maker was planning to cut thousands of jobs to deal with a slumping personal computer market. Philips (PHG) – Philips shares slumped 8.1% in the premarket after the Dutch health technology company said its third-quarter core profit would be down about 60% from a year ago. Diamondback Energy (FANG) – Diamondback Energy announced a deal to buy energy producer FireBird Energy for $1.6 billion in cash and stock. El Pollo Loco (LOCO) – El Pollo Loco shares rallied 15.2% in premarket action after the restaurant operator announced a $1.50 per share special dividend and a stock repurchase program worth up to $20 million. Lyft (LYFT) – Lyft gained 4.3% in the premarket after Gordon Haskett upgraded the stock to buy from hold.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Moderna, Pepsi, Lyft and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Pepsi products are displayed for sale in a Target store on March 8, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday Wednesday:Moderna — Shares of Moderna surged 10% after the drug maker announced it will partner with Merck to jointly develop and sell a cancer vaccine. It reported preliminary month-end assets under management of $1.23 trillion as of Sept. 30. Pepsi also raised its guidance for the year as it was able to successfully raise prices on its products. Lyft — Lyft shares gained 5.8% following an upgrade from Gordon Haskett to buy from hold.

☆ Insight Partners to acquire stake in software firm Aptean
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 10 (Reuters) - New York-based private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners will acquire a minority stake in Aptean, the business software firm said on Monday. Existing investor TA Associates has also invested, Aptean said, making the investment firm its largest shareholder. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterVista Equity Partners, previously equal partners in Aptean with TA Associates, will fully exit its stake in the company. Charlesbank Capital Partners, a private investment firm that joined TA Associates and Vista Equity as stakeholder in 2020, will continue to be a shareholder, Aptean said. The investment firm then merged CDC Software with Consona Corp to form Aptean.

☆ Vista Equity Partners is exploring a deal to take Compass private, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-05 | by ( Ben Bergman | Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Vista Equity Partners is exploring taking the real-estate brokerage private, sources say. A Compass rep said "no private-equity firm has contacted Compass expressing any interest in taking the company private." Vista Equity Partners is exploring a deal to take the residential real-estate brokerage Compass private, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The chief technology officer Joseph Sirosh, who left Microsoft to run Compass' tech operations, was let go shortly after the call. Vista has taken numerous tech companies private this year, including an $8.4 billion deal for the tax-software company Avalara and a $16.4 billion deal for Citrix.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Planet Fitness, PG&E, Las Vegas Sands and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:Planet Fitness — Shares of the gym franchise jumped nearly 3% in premarket trading after Raymond James upgraded the stock to strong buy from market perform. The Wall Street firm said the company has a resilient and recession-resistant business with no interest rate risk and very little near-term debtmaturities. PG&E — The utility stock climbed more than 5% premarket after S&P Dow Jones Indices on Friday said PG&E will replace Citrix Systems in the S&P 500, effective prior to the opening of trading on Monday, October 3. Lyft — Shares of the ride-hailing company fell nearly 4% premarket after UBS downgraded the stock to neutral from buy. The Wall Street firm cited its driver survey that indicates drivers prefer Uber and Lyft is not their main app.

☆ Wall Street ends choppy session higher with focus firmly on Fed
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( David French | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Focus will also be on new economic projections, due to be published alongside the Fed's policy statement at 2 p.m. A majority of the 11 S&P 500 sectors rose. read moreIndustrial stocks (.SPLRCI) rebounded 1.4% after a sharp drop on Friday, while banks (.SPXBK) gained 1.9%. Tech heavyweights Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) rose 2.5% and 1.9%, respectively, to provide the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. read moreThe S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and 28 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 29 new highs and 378 new lows.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterUnexpectedly hot August inflation data last week also raised bets on increased rate hikes down the road, with the terminal rate for U.S. fed funds now at 4.46%. It's a lower volume market, which means that folks are probably just sitting tight at this point waiting to see the next step." Focus will also be on new economic projections, due to be published alongside the Fed's policy statement at 2 p.m. Four of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were lower. Tech heavyweights Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) rose more than 1% each to provide the biggest boost to S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

☆ KnowBe4 gets $4.22 billion go-private offer from Vista Equity Partners
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Sept 19 (Reuters) - Cybersecurity firm KnowBe4 Inc (KNBE.O) said on Monday that Vista Equity Partners had offered to take it private for $4.22 billion in cash, the latest sign of private equity interest in a sector whose valuations have declined in this year's downturn. The offer of $24 per share represents a premium of nearly 39% to KnowBe4's closing price on Sept. 16. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterKnowBe4 provides security awareness training with simulated phishing attacks on its platform. KnowBe4, whose shares surged 25% in the morning hours on Monday, said it had formed a special committee to review the offer. The bid from Vista comes amid a string of large investments by the Austin, Texas-based fund this year.

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