Acronis' next steps could include an IPO or sale – CFO

Interview 16 May

Acronis' next steps could include an IPO or sale – CFO

Acronis, a Swiss-Singaporean cyber protection company, is starting to think about its next steps and these could “definitely involve a public listing or a sale”, CFO Sachar Rabbe told Mergermarket.  

Headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, Acronis does not have a mission to undertake an exit strategy; however, “some shareholders” might want an exit, which management will work towards when the time comes, Rabbe said. At the moment, Acronis remains a private company, he added.  

The cyber protection firm has raised a reported USD 250m Series E in July 2022, which has pushed the value of the firm to USD 3.5bn. Blackrock [NYSE:BLK] was one of the investors involved. In May 2021, the firm secured an additional USD 250m in a Series D, with CVC Capital Partners Fund VII and other investors reportedly joining the round. Additional investors include Goldman Sachs [NYSE:GS], the executive disclosed.  

Meanwhile, the firm is actively looking for acquisitions, with the “most interesting” targets being add-ons to the firm's current offering, the CFO said. However, there is “nothing concrete” in terms of acquisitions, he added. 

Even if potential targets have significant annual recurring revenue (ARR), they would typically need to be fully integrated into the Acronis platform and would be sold through one single pane of glass to Acronis’ service providers, Rabbe said. There are no specific geographies of focus, he added.  

Acronis is speaking to legal and financial advisors for acquisitions, Rabbe said, however, he declined to name them. 

Acronis made several acquisitions on the back of the Series D and E, having reportedly acquired long-time partner Synapsys in 2021 for an undisclosed fee. Other acquisitions include the reported purchase of DeviceLock and CyberLynx in 2020. A year prior, Acronis reportedly acquired 5nine in 2019 and T-Soft in 2018, reportedly

With the Series E investment, Acronis has focused on its key growth drivers Rabbe said. These include continuous technology improvement and enhancements, he said. Recemtñu, the firm has released its EDR and DLP products, all of which have received heavy investment, the CFO added.  

To date, Acronis has more than 20,000 service providers and more than 750,000 customers and more than 3 million workloads. Rabbe said. Acronis operates in over 150 countries, with more than 50 data centres around the globe, the executive added.  

The firm is going through a phase of “hyper growth”, which Rabbe defined as more than 40% annually. Its competitors include Veeam and Datto [NYSE:MSP] , he said. 

Dealogic's likely to issue (LTI) predictive algorithm gives Acronis an LTI score of 27, indicating a strong probability that its venture capital backers will seek an exit. 

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