Romanian IT security solutions producer Bitdefender hired investment banks JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley to help it launch an IPO on the US market, Profit.ro announced quoting Unquote portal.

The IPO would envisage a valuation of nearly USD 2 bln for the Romanian company, according to sources familiar with the deal quoted by Ziarul Financiar daily. The procedures had reportedly launched off last month.

The company has also decided that Bitdefender Free, one of the most popular free security solutions for Windows, will be permanently discontinued starting December 31.

A successful listing can result in a second Romanian unicorn after UiPath.

Previously, the Vitruvian Partners investment fund bought a share of around 30% of Bitdefender. The company was then valued at over USD 600 mln.

In the spring of 2019, Bitdefender appointed John Stynes, an Irish executive with nearly two decades of experience in listed technology companies, as CFO. At that time, the Romanian company was pondering listing its shares at Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).

Bitdefender is a global computer security and antivirus software company operating globally, which provides solutions to protect against cyber threats for over 500 million users in over 170 countries. Founded in 2001 by Florin and Măriuca Talpeș, the company is headquartered in Bucharest and has offices in the USA, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo: Bitdefender co-founder Florin Talpes; photo source: Inquam Photos/George Calin)