Topics
Latest
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Smith Collection/Gado / Getty Images
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Cloud Computing
Commerce Department
Crypto
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
fund-raise
Gadgets
stake
Government & Policy
Hardware
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
security measure
Social
Space
Startups
TikTok
Transportation
speculation
More from TechCrunch
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Podcasts
Videos
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
Contact Us
MariaDB‘s short - lived land tenure as a public company is all but over , as the struggling database businessis nowfully under the auspices ofK1 Investment Management . MariaDB also announced a fresh CEO in former Micro Focus executiveRohit de Souza , who replaces Paul O’Brien after just16 month in the hot seatin readying for life as a private company .
The caller quietlyfiled a Form 25with the Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) on August 26 , marking the day that California - based secret fairness business firm K1 consume full - possession of MariaDB and de - listed its shares from the New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE ) . Then last Thursday , MariaDBfiled a physique 15with the SEC , officially triggering the company ’s de - registration process from the NYSE , which demand a full 90 days to take effect — this intend that MariaDB will formally cease to be a public company on December 6 , though for all intents and purposes the company is efficaciously individual now given that trading has ceased and it has limited reporting certificate of indebtedness .
Public SPAC
MariaDBlaunchedas a MySQL ramification some 15 long time ago , following concerns about MySQL ’s independence aftera seriesof expectant buck ’ acquisitionsled Oracle to effectivelyown the undefended source relational database management organisation . A namesake MariaDB embodied entity go on to raise around $ 230 million in funding through the years to trade premium features and services on top of the open author project , with the company eventuallygoing publicvia a special purpose acquisition companionship ( SPAC ) in late 2022 .
The public list was far from fruitful , with its open daypeak valuationof $ 445 million — a trope already way below its individual high valuation of$672 million — dropping drastically in the months that followed to below $ 12 million at the showtime of 2024 . Astring of subpar realise reportshad also prompted the NYSE towarn MariaDBthat it was n’t in compliance with itemisation rules that stipulate a company ’s modal global grocery store capitalisation ca n’t descend below $ 50 million over a back-to-back 30 - mean solar day trading period .
Off the back of all this , K1 tabled anon - binding proposal for MariaDB in February , offering $ 0.55 per ploughshare , which was the equivalent of around $ 37 million — a 189 % premium on MariaDB ’s February 5 closing price . Despite a slimly higher tentativeoffer from enterprise computer software fellowship Progressthatnever materialized , K1 forged ahead to secure the majority of MariaDB ’s share in belated July — this amount to 88.7 % of the emerge part . This was sufficiently high enough to kickstart acompulsory share acquisition notice , meaning that it was lawfully title to buy all prominent ordinary part from shareholder who had n’t accepted the offer , at the same $ 0.55 price — and this is what reason out on August 26 .
K1 has atrack record in later - degree investmentsover its 12 - twelvemonth history , though it only has two former take - private softwood to its name — ElmoandAttraqt , both dealing conclude in the past two years . With this late deal , K1 say that it plans to cover developing the product and duplicate down on its customer base , which already includes the likes of the U.S. Department of Defense , Nokia , RedHat , Samsung , and Deutsche Bank .
“ With K1 ’s backup , we are poise to expand our capabilities and continue delivering the modern database solutions our customers bank on , ” de Souza said in a statement . “ This partnership admit us to further product innovation , advancing our ability to support raw workload driven by AI and the cloud . We remain focused on making it easy for client to transition from costly alternative and meet the apace growing demands for AI and cloud - base solutions . ”
