We have advised Shore Capital (Nominated Adviser, Joint Broker and Joint Bookrunner) and Stifel (Joint Broker & Joint Bookrunner) on a $354 million (£265.5 million) placing and retail offer for Kape Technologies plc, a leading B2C privacy-first digital security software provider.
The capital raise was structured as an accelerated bookbuild placing, and was supported by new and existing institutional shareholders, including a number of blue-chip institutional investors from the UK, USA, Israel and Asia. The proceeds of the raise will be used to fund the upfront consideration for the acquisition of ExpressVPN, one of the most recognised brands in the digital privacy space serving over 3 million customers.
Toby Gibbs, Director at Shore Capital, said: "We were delighted to see the strong response from existing shareholders and new investors on one of AIM’s largest ever secondary placings to support Kape’s transformational $936 million acquisition of ExpressVPN. It was great to work with the Taylor Wessing team again who provided pragmatic and commercially focused guidance throughout the process."
Alex Price, Director at Stifel, said: "We were pleased to have advised on another oversubscribed fundraise for Kape Technologies. The Taylor Wessing team were a huge support, providing great value to us in helping deliver the transaction."
Commenting on the deal, corporate partner Tandeep Minhas said: "Investors are showing substantial interest in the growing cybersecurity market, which is demonstrated by this fundraise being multiple times oversubscribed. As a leading firm in the tech sector, we are pleased to have supported Shore Capital and Stifel on this significant financing in the digital privacy space."
The team was led by corporate partner Tandeep Minhas alongside corporate senior associate Amy Coburn.