What happened
Now this was a superb way for a stock to kick off its trading week. KnowBe4 (KNBE) announced Monday morning that it had received a buyout offer at a rich premium to its share price. Investors and at least one analyst believe the cybersecurity education specialist will end up being sold; as a result, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, KnowBe4's share price zoomed nearly 24% higher this week.
So what
The would-be acquirer is private equity firm Vista Equity Partners, which has offered to purchase all of KnowBe4's outstanding stock at a price of $24 per share. This amount will be paid entirely in cash. The specialty tech company didn't hesitate to mention that the offered price is 39% higher than the stock's closing price the previous trading day.
In what was probably a very quick process, KnowBe4 formed a special committee from its board of directors to evaluate Vista's proposal. The company added that it will make no further official comments until this evaluation is complete. As of Friday's market close, it had stayed true to its word.
Consequently, after Monday's understandable stock price pop on the news, the shares entered more or less a holding pattern as investors awaited fresh news.
Now what
Investors are clearly confident that the deal will go through, as that holding pattern was gripping the shares in a fairly narrow range above $21 each. Meanwhile, one analyst also thinks KnowBe4 will change hands: UBS' Fatima Boolani raised her price target on the stock Tuesday morning. She now believes it is worth that offered $24 per share, and is maintaining her neutral recommendation following the price bump.
