Victory of Milan

NEW YORK (Reuters) – eSentire’s owners are considering several options, including a potential sale that could value the cybersecurity company at about $1 billion including debt, people familiar with the matter said.

ESentire — owned by investment firms Warburg Pincus, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Georgian — is working with investment bank Evercore on a sale that could attract interest from other private equity firms, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the talks are confidential.

Waterloo, Ontario-based eSentire’s owners are targeting a valuation of seven times its annual recurring revenue of about $150 million, the sources said, cautioning that any deal was not certain.

Warburg Pincus, CDPQ and Evercore declined to comment. Georgian and eSentire did not respond to requests for comment.

Founded in 2001, eSentire is a developer of AI-powered cybersecurity tools that lend a hand companies investigate and stop security threats before they disrupt operations. Its customers include more than 2,000 organizations in over 80 countries across a variety of industries.

Warburg Pincus first invested in eSentire in 2017. Canadian pension fund CDPQ and Canadian venture capital firm Georgian acquired a significant stake in eSentire from Warburg in 2022.

Cybersecurity deals have been brisk amid a surge in spending on AI-powered security software by major corporations. Earlier in August, Reuters reported that Japanese cybersecurity firm Trend Micro (OTC:) was considering a sale after attracting acquisition interest.

In July, Google parent company Alphabet (NASDAQ:) tried to strike a $23 billion deal to buy cybersecurity startup Wiz, but talks fell through.