Vitruvian's Bitdefender hires advisers for IPO-led exit

Amy-Jo Crowley, Charlie Taylor-Kroll and Boris Maleshkov
03 December 2021

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Romanian cybersecurity company Bitdefender has appointed JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley to lead an IPO-led dual track process, according to three sources familiar with the situation.

Sponsor Vitruvian Partners is targeting a flotation in 2022, but would also consider a sale as a secondary option should an IPO fail to materialise, two of the sources said.

Bitdefender's Bucharest-registered entity posted revenues of USD 211m in 2020, according to Dun & Bradstreet data. This implies Bitdefender's group 2020 revenues were around USD 290m, as the Romanian entity accounts for a little over 70% of the group's annual sales, according to a local media report.

Any transaction could see Bitdefender fetch a 6-10x annual sales multiple, one of the sources said, potentially valuing the business within the USD 1.7bn to USD 2.9bn range.

New York is the most likely destination for an IPO, three sources said, especially given the recent popularity of the US market for cybersecurity firms. However, the listing venue has not been officially decided, said one of the sources.

Among recent cybersecurity peers targeting a US IPO are startup Arctic Wolf, which is sounding out advisers for a New York listing next year following a funding round that valued the business at USD 4bn.

The sell side could look to the listing of US-based robotic firm UiPath as a valuation benchmark for Bitdefender, Mergermarket previously reported. The New York-headquartered company, which has a USD 22.7bn market capitalisation as of 2 December, is also a product of the Romanian tech scene.

One fly in the ointment of the listing plan is jitters over rates. IPO sentiment generally is becoming more nervous ahead of anticipated monetary policy tightening to rein in inflation, so the Bitdefender process will likely go down the sale path, one of the sources argued.

The company's second largest shareholder, Vitruvian, acquired a stake of approximately 30% in Bitdefender, valuing the business at more than USD 600m in 2017. Bitdefender's co-founders Mariuca and Florin Talpes continue to hold a majority stake, while a group of private investors hold a minority stake in the company, as reported.

Mergermarket reported in February that Vitruvian was angling for a 2022 listing, with advisers positioning themselves for advisory positions.

Bitdefender has 1,600 employees across 14 offices, with customers in 150 countries and a network of 20,000 reseller partners. Established in 2001, the company's anti-virus software protects 500 million systems.

A spokesperson for Bitdefender said it would not comment on speculation, while Vitruvian did not respond to requests for comment. JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.