Clearlake Capital Group and TA Associates, the private equity owners of DigiCert, are exploring options including a sale of the digital security technology company, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Lehi, Utah-based DigiCert may be valued at about $8 billion, including debt, in any transaction, said some of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Potential suitors include private equity firms as well as so-called strategic buyers, one of the people said.
The company posted earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization of about $345 million in 2020, and projects that to rise to about $375 million this year, one of the people said. DigiCert, which focuses on device authentication and data encryption, says 89% of the Fortune 500 are its clients. In 2019, Clearlake and TA took control of the company, which is led by CEO John Merrill, from Thoma Bravo.
In February, Moody’s Investors Service changed its outlook on DigiCert to stable from positive after the company’s proposal to raise $467 million in incremental debt to partially fund a $570 million dividend to its owners. The firm has about $2.7 billion in outstanding debt, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Source: BNN Bloomberg
By Gillian Tan and Kiel Porter
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