Darktrace set to leave London Stock Exchange at end of September

Darktrace shares are set to stop trading publicly at the end of September, after the company set a timetable for its blockbuster private equity takeover to be completed.

The private equity group Thoma Bravo struck an almost 5.31 billion dollar (£4.3 billion) deal to buy Darktrace in April.

It marks one of the biggest take-private deals for a London-listed company in recent years, and will see Darktrace leave the FTSE 100 on October 1.

The newly published timetable shows the last day of dealings in Darktrace shares to be September 30, giving investors just two weeks before the company leaves public markets.

A clutch of companies have already left or opted against the London stock market of late.

Britain’s biggest chip company ARM floated in New York last autumn, in a move which was widely interpreted as a blow for the London Stock Exchange.

Irish building supplies group CRH also moved its stock market listing to Wall Street in June 2023, while plumbing equipment supplier Ferguson did the same in 2022.

Founded in 2013, Cambridge-based Darktrace is a cybersecurity firm best known for using artificial intelligence to scan for hacks and data leaks inside IT networks.

A prominent company in the UK tech landscape, it was among the firms represented at the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in November, where world leaders and major tech firms met to discuss the potential threat of artificial intelligence.

Thoma Bravo had previously approached Darktrace about a possible acquisition in 2022, but talks at the time did not result in an offer.

The update comes after Poppy Gustafsson stepped down as chief executive earlier in September amid the takeover.

Ms Gustafsson, who co-founded the business in 2013, will be replaced as chief executive by Jill Popelka, the company said.

Ms Gustafsson helped to set up the Cambridge-based company in 2013 alongside Autonomy founder Mike Lynch.

Mr Lynch, and his daughter Hannah, were among seven people to die after the Bayesian superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily last month.