Vitruvian buys 30% stake in Bitdefender

The transaction marks the end of a 10-year holding period for Axxess Capital after its acquisition of a minority stake in Bitdefender in 2007.

Financial details were not disclosed but press reports suggested an enterprise value of more than $600m.

With the fresh capital from Vitruvian, Bitdefender intends to expand internationally with a focus on the US market, where it currently generates around 40% of its sales.

Previous funding
In December 2007, Romanian American Enterprise Fund led a funding round of €4.8m for Bitdefender, along with Axxess and private investors.

Axxess deployed capital from its Balkan Accession Fund, which invests primarily in Romania and Bulgaria. The fund held a final close on €110m in October 2006 and is currently in its final divestment stage.

Company
Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Bucharest, Bitdefender is a cybersecurity software company. It mainly offers antivirus, firewall, antispyware, antispam and parental control for corporate and home users. The firm has additional offices in Spain, Germany and the US. 

It employs a staff of 1,300 across nine offices, supporting customers in 150 countries and a network of around 7,000 retail partners.

People
Vitruvian Partners – Stephen Byrne (partner).
Axxess Capital – Horia Manda (managing partner).
Bitdefender – Florin Talpes (founder, CEO).

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