Turn/River Capital Looks To Buys Tufin For $570M
April 7, 2022
Tufin
has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by
Turn/River Capital, a software-focused investment firm, in an
all-cash transaction that values Tufin at approximately $570
million.
Under the terms of the agreement, Tufin shareholders will
receive $13.00 per share in cash, representing a premium of
approximately 44% over Tufin’s closing share price on April 5,
2022, the last full trading day prior to the transaction
announcement, and a premium of approximately 54% over Tufin’s
one-month volume-weighted average closing price through April 5,
2022. Upon completion of the transaction, Tufin will become a
private company and will partner with Turn/River to further
accelerate its mission of helping enterprise customers use
policy-driven automation to address the security threats of
tomorrow.
“Today’s announcement is a testament to Tufin’s leadership in
security policy management for hybrid networks and cloud
environments,” said Ruvi Kitov, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of
Tufin. “Since our inception nearly 20 years ago, we have made
significant strides in developing our policy-based automation
solution and have become a market leader. This deal represents
an important milestone for Tufin, and as a private company, we
will have the opportunity to accelerate our growth through
investments in our technology, people, and go-to-market. The
team at Turn/River specializes in helping software companies
like Tufin, and with their partnership and expertise I am
confident that we will be able to achieve our long-term goals
faster.”
“We believe Turn/River Capital is the ideal partner for Tufin as
the Company makes further progress to a subscription-based
revenue model,” said Tom Schodorf, the Lead Independent Director
of the Tufin Board of Directors. “We are confident this
transaction with Turn/River will allow Tufin to accelerate this
transition, expand to new markets, and reach new customer
segments.”
“Tufin is an industry leader in network security policy
management, helping enterprise customers secure their most
critical network infrastructure and cloud assets,” said Dominic
Ang, Founder and Managing Partner of Turn/River Capital. “We are
incredibly excited to bring our best-in-class operations team,
with their deep expertise in marketing, sales and customer
success, to our partnership with Tufin. We look forward to
working hand in hand with them to drive accelerated growth and
scale.”
Transaction Details
Tufin’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) unanimously approved
the agreement with Turn/River Capital and recommends that Tufin
shareholders vote in favor of the transaction at the Special
Meeting of Stockholders to be called in connection with the
transaction.
The
agreement includes a 30-day “go-shop” period expiring May 5,
2022, which allows the Board and its advisors to actively
solicit, initiate, encourage or facilitate alternative
acquisition proposals from third parties. The Board will have
the right to terminate the merger agreement to enter into a
superior proposal subject to the terms and conditions of the
merger agreement. There can be no assurance that this “go-shop”
will result in a superior proposal, and Tufin does not intend to
disclose developments with respect to the solicitation process
unless and until it determines such disclosure is appropriate or
otherwise required.
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of
2022, subject to customary closing conditions, including
approval by Tufin shareholders and receipt of regulatory
approvals. Upon closing of the transaction, the Company’s common
stock will no longer be listed on any public market. The Company
will continue to be headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Ruvi Kitov, Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Tufin and Reuven
Harrison, CTO and Co-Founder of Tufin, have entered into voting
agreements pursuant to which they have agreed, among other
things, to vote their shares of Company common stock in favor of
the transaction.
First Quarter 2022 Financial Results
Tufin plans to publish its first quarter fiscal year 2022
financial results on or before May 13, 2022 and will not host a
live conference call.
Advisors
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Tufin, with White & Case LLP acting as its U.S. legal counsel and Meitar Law Offices acting as its Israeli legal counsel. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel to Turn/River.