The Waterloo, Ont.-based firm, which monitors computer networks to ensure they run smoothly, has filed for creditor protection while it seeks a buyer. Sandvine owes its lenders $431.8 million in principal secured debt. It’s soliciting buyers until Dec. 18 and expects to close a sale by March next year. In the meantime, a group of debt holders have taken control of the company from U.S. private equity firm Francisco Partners. (The Logic)
Talking point: Sandvine expects revenue to drop by 50 per cent compared to 2023, after the U.S. Department of Commerce placed Sandvine on its entity list, which flags foreign companies deemed national security threats. The department alleged it provided “mass web-monitoring and censorship” technology to the Egyptian government. It was removed from the blacklist last month after making changes to its corporate governance and business practices, including exiting 32 countries it deemed “non-democratic.” But Sandvine has suffered a hard financial blow—blacklisting cost the firm key clients, and it now has to leave lucrative markets that together accounted for about 45 per cent of the firm’s revenue last year, filings show.