Bain Capital Sells Blue Coat to Symantec for $4.65 Billion

Ropes & Gray advised Bain Capital and Blue Coat, Inc. in the proposed sale of Blue Coat to global cybersecurity leader Symantec Corporation for approximately $4.65 billion in cash. The transaction, announced June 12, has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2016 subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals. The combined company will be headquartered in Mountain View, California.

Blue Coat is a leading provider of advanced web security solutions for global enterprises and governments, protecting 15,000 organizations, including over 70 percent of the Fortune Global 500. Through the Blue Coat Security Platform, Blue Coat unites network, security and cloud protecting enterprises and their users from cyber threats, whether they are on the network, on the web, in the cloud or mobile.

The Ropes & Gray team included private equity partner Will Shields (Boston); securities & public companies partner Thomas Holden (San Francisco); finance partner Byung Choi (Boston); executive compensation & employee benefits partner Jennifer Rikoski (Boston); tax partners Eric Elfman and Pamela Glazier (both of Boston); and private equity associate Charles Boer (Boston).  

Ropes & Gray also represented Bain Capital in its acquisition of Blue Coat from Thoma Bravo, LLC in all-cash transaction valued at $2.4 billion, which was completed in May 2015.