Web security and WLAN optimisation provider Blue Coat Systems has agreed to a buy-out by private equity firm Thoma Bravo for USD 1.3 billion. The investor group is led by Thoma Bravo and includes the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan through its private investor department, Teachers' Private Capital. Blue Coat shareholders will receive USD 25.81 cash per share, a premium of 48 percent of the company's closing share price the day before the deal was announced. Blue Coat said its board has been looking at strategic options for six months, supported by independent advisers. The company will continue to focus on the same product line after the takeover, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2012, pending regulatory and shareholder approval. Based in the US, Thoma Bravo is an investor in a number of software companies, including Attachmate, LANDesk and SonicWall.
