LONDON, July 25 (Reuters Breakingviews) - France's Thales (TCFP.PA) is doubling down on cybersecurity with its $3.6 billion purchase of U.S. firm Imperva.
Thales's boss Patrice Caine briefly considered buying Atos's (ATOS.PA) cybersecurity arm last year, but didn’t go through with it.
The purchase values the Thoma Bravo-backed group at 17 times forecast 2024 operating profit, according to Thales.
Meanwhile Caine’s push into the racy cyber sector doesn’t seem to register in the group’s valuation.
That means investors are sceptical that Thales’s efforts to crack the war against hacking will work out for shareholders.
Persons:
Patrice Caine, Thoma, Caine’s, Refinitiv Datastream, Pamela Barbaglia, Liam Proud, Streisand Neto
Organizations:
Reuters, Thales, Thoma Bravo, BAE Systems, Twitter, Thomson
Locations:
U.S, Spain