Varonis Systems Acquisition by Proofpoint 'Makes Sense' as Market Competition Intensifies, RBC Says

10:51 AM EDT, 10/16/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Varonis Systems' (VRNS) pending acquisition by Thoma Bravo portfolio company Proofpoint "makes sense" as the data security market competition intensifies, RBC Capital Markets said in a Friday note. Under the agreement, Proofpoint will acquire the company in an all-cash transaction for $49.75 per share, valuing Varonis at roughly $6.3 billion, expected to close in H1 2027, according to the note. Varonis could also be more successful as part of a larger platform, RBC analysts said. Meanwhile, overlap with Proofpoint's presence in data loss prevention is not seen as a material issue in regulatory approval, as it is only one aspect of the data security market and accounts for about 3% of overall cybersecurity spending, the analysts said. RBC downgraded the company's stock rating to sector-perform from outperform and decreased the price target to $49.75 from $52. Price: 48.65, Change: +1.31, Percent Change: +2.76