Bain Capital, Advent International and EQT AB are among the private equity firms competing to acquire Japanese cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, which has a market value of 1.32 trillion yen ($8.54 billion),

The potential buyers seeking to acquire Trend Micro reportedly include Bain Capital, Advent International, EQT AB and KKR. Reuters’ sources said that the private equity firms have expressed acquisition interest in “recent weeks.” However, they cautioned that Trend Micro could still opt to remain independent instead of pursuing a sale.

Trend Micro said third-quarter net sales rose 6 per cent to 68.1 billion yen for a 42 per cent jump in operating income to 14.8 billion yen, as its operating margin rose to 24 per cent

A successful takeover of Trend Micro would rank as one of the world's biggest leveraged buyouts in recent months and signal that private equity dealmaking is starting to bounce back, after the pace of debt-fueled buyouts was hit hard by interest rate hikes from central banks to fight inflation in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Bain Capital, Advent International, EQT AB, and KKR are among private equity firms exploring a potential acquisition of Japanese cybersecurity giant Trend Micro (OTC:TMICY), which has a market value of 1.