Vista Equity Partners to Buy Security Awareness Firm KnowBe4 for $4.6B

Security awareness training and simulated phishing platform KnowBe4 is to be acquired by investment firm Vista Equity Partners for $4.6 billion.

The per share purchase price of $24.90 is 44% higher than KnowBe4’s closing price on Sept. 16, which was the last full trading day before Vista disclosed its initial non-binding acquisition proposal, the two companies said in a Wednesday (Oct. 12) press release.

Read more: Security Awareness Platform KnowBe4 Receives Offer to Go Private

“KnowBe4 has a strong record of performance, as evidenced by our market-leading platform and global customer base,” KnowBe4 founder, Chairman and CEO Stu Sjouwerman said in the release. “Under Vista’s ownership, we will have access to additional resources and support, which will help us achieve our goals and deliver enhanced value to our customers.”

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions, and KnowBe4 — which currently trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market as KNBE — will become a private company upon completion of the transaction.

KnowB34’s security awareness training — which mobilizes end users to defend against ransomware, CEO fraud and other social engineering tactics — is used by 52,000 organizations worldwide.

“As a significant investor in KnowBe4, we could not be more excited to take this next step in our journey together,” Vista Managing Director Rod Aliabadi said in the release. “We have long appreciated the work that KnowBe4 does in strengthening the human layer of cybersecurity through educating employees on how to identify social engineering and related cyber threats.”

As PYMNTS reported Aug. 4, social engineering scams rely on tricking individuals with fraudulent interactions that appear legitimate, thereby ensnaring them into becoming active participants themselves.

Read more: PYMNTS Intelligence: Understanding Social Engineering Scams

Because social engineering involves deceiving someone into doing something ostensibly willingly, stopping it is a formidable challenge. The victim’s involvement makes it hard for financial institutions to tell if the behavior is suspicious.