RE: From interest to offer18 Aug 2022 17:35
The TB focus on Darktrace has obviously intensified in the last few weeks, but the company could easily have been on their radar or wish-list since the IPO last year. The IPO was obviously rushed, pricing of the issue was haphazard, badly advised & the year or so following has seemed to be one debacle following another, the tech bubble bursting in the States& manifesting itself from October 2021 washing over the Atlantic etc - much of it can be put down to Dark PR disasters as well.
Possibly, the intention to bid came on Monday the 15th August, because TB wanted to ensure first-mover advantage, they have quite a background in cyber-security so know the game well. They may consider that cyber technology is here to stay, and the currently fragmented market is ripe for consolidation. There are any amongst a 100 reasons why they have notified their intention of pouncing on Dark. They may have simply thought they could run Dark better than the current management, but aside from the progress of the brilliant core business, the Keystone Cops could have run the rest of the business with greater aplomb over the last year or so.
Without doubt there are a lot of interested parties regarding Dark & TB may even be acting as an opaque front for another interested party that they may intend to sell on to. TB may also be testing the Government's resolve to hang on to key Government Defence industries. No doubt the reasoning will become apparent at some point.
Once the 28-day bid period kicked off on Monday the 15th August, it signified that TB are a serious contender, being treated seriously by the Darktrace Board. Once this bid-period is entered, TB can then request more detailed financial and business-related information from Dark than is publicly available. Essentially, the two companies can explore whether they can work together harmoniously or whether any takeover would have to be hostile to stand any chance of success.
The 28-day bid-period is also designed to be of benefit to the target company, in this case Darktrace. Any bid approach will lead to fraught, frenzied and frenetic activity on the part of the target company, it is a difficult time for a multitude of reasons. The 28-day bid -period, defines when TB has to make or withdraw a bid, enabling Dark to simply get on with its day to day business with much less distraction.
If TB withdraws its bid at any point up to the 12th September, it cannot then make a renewed bid for Dark for a period of at least 6-months. Basically because at the point that they withdrew the bid, or it did not materialise, they are a party to a great deal of confidential information relating to Darktrace.
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