Report: American firm Proofpoint in talks to acquire Israeli cyber company Varonis

The American company Proofpoint is in advanced talks to acquire the Israeli cyber company Varonis, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. A few months ago, it was reported in the US that several private equity funds were interested in acquiring Varonis. Proofpoint is backed by its controlling shareholder, the Thoma Bravo fund, which specializes in mergers and acquisitions in the cyber sector.

At this stage, the valuation of the negotiations is unknown, but on the eve of the report, Varonis was trading on Wall Street with a market capitalization of around 5 billion dollars. In the last hour, its stock has jumped by 10% due to assessments that the deal value will be closer to 6 billion dollars.

Varonis has developed a cloud-based data security platform that continuously identifies and classifies critical data, removes exposures, and detects threats using AI-based automation. Varonis, which has most of its employees in the US, was founded in 2004 and is managed by Yaki Faitelson, one of its founders. He serves as the company's CEO, Chairman, and President. Varonis employs about 2,400 people, though most are based outside of Israel.

The company went public in 2014 and has since experienced ups and downs. Last October, the company's stock plummeted by 49% following disappointing reports and an announcement of a 5% reduction in its workforce. Varonis is expected to end 2026 with revenues of 735 million dollars, reflecting a growth rate of 18%, and an operating profit of 11–13 million dollars. In recent years, Varonis stock has suffered from weakness stemming mainly from the company's slow transition from an outdated business model to selling its products under the Software as a Service (SaaS) model.