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Carbonite Nearing Company Sale?

Carbonite has reached the second round of company sale discussions, which could indicate that the data protection and cybersecurity software provider may be acquired soon, according to DealReporter.

Carbonite, parent of Webroot, has been considering a potential company sale to private equity firms and other suitors since at least September 2019. Interim CEO Steve Munford  has been running the company since Mohamad Ali stepped down in July 2019 to join a media company.

Several Webroot veterans have been promoted into executive roles at Carbonite, which is expected to announce a newly combined partner program in 2020.

Carbonite and Webroot: The Background

Carbonite acquired Webroot in March 2019. The overall company's data protection, backup and disaster recovery (BDR) offerings generated less-than-expected revenues in mid-2019. The other side of the house -- involving cybersecurity software -- has been a strong performer, particularly in the MSP-centric SMB market.

Carbonite's overall market capitalization was $586.6 million as of October 29, according to Yahoo Finance. That's less than the $618.5 million that Carbonite paid just for Webroot less than a year ago.

The company's latest developments are expected to surface this week at IT Nation Connect 2019, a major conference hosted by ConnectWise.

Carbonite Earnings Call Date

Carbonite is scheduled to announce third-quarter financial results on November 12, 2019. We'll be watching to see if a potential M&A deal surfaces ahead of that time.

Several major private equity firms -- particularly Thoma Bravo, Vista Equity and Summit Partners -- have been quite active in the MSP-centric technology market, though we don't know if they're taking a look at Carbonite.

ChannelE2E has not independently confirmed the DealReporter's report.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.