NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, INTO OR IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH OFFERS OR SALES WOULD BE PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR FORM AN OFFER OF SECURITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA, JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION.

PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

5 August 2021

Proposed Secondary Placing of a Minimum of $150 Million in Darktrace Plc ("Darktrace" or the "Company")

KKR Dark Aggregator L.P., Summit DT CLN Holdings 4, Hoxton Ventures Fund I Opportunities III, L.P.  and Balderton Capital SFI, S.L.P. (together the "Sellers"), announce their intention to sell a minimum of $150 million worth of ordinary shares in the Company (the "Placing Shares") through a placing to eligible institutional investors by way of an accelerated bookbuild (the "Placing").

The price per Placing Share will be determined through an accelerated bookbuild process. The bookbuild process will commence with immediate effect following this announcement and may close at any time on short notice. A further announcement will be made following the completion of the bookbuild and pricing of the Placing. The timing for the close of the bookbuild and the distribution of allocations will be at the absolute discretion of the Joint Bookrunners. The Company is not a party to the Placing and will not receive any proceeds from the Placing.

Each of the Sellers is subject to lock-up arrangements which were agreed at the time of Darktrace's initial public offering ("IPO") and described in Darktrace's IPO prospectus. Subject to investor demand, and following completion of the accelerated bookbuild process, the Joint Global Co-ordinators may agree to waive the Sellers' lock-up arrangements with respect to the Placing Shares intended to be sold by the Sellers in the Placing. The Sellers' lock-up arrangements as described in Darktrace's IPO prospectus will otherwise remain in place in accordance with their respective terms, subject to exceptions.

Jefferies, Berenberg and KKR Capital Markets will act as Joint Global Co-ordinators and Joint Bookrunners on the Placing. Needham and Piper Sandler will act as Joint Bookrunners on the Placing.

ENQUIRIES

Jefferies

Simon Hardy / Dominic Lester / Rob Leach / Luca Erpici / Will Soutar

+44 (0)207 029 8000

Berenberg

Chris Bowman / Alex Reynolds / Andy Bickerton / Jen Clarke

+44 (0)203 207 7800

KKR Capital Markets

David Bauer / Lauren Hahn / Eric Han

+1 646 627 0270 

Needham

Matt Castrovince

+1 212 705 0458

Piper Sandler

Matthew Wolfe

+1 415 369 7298

IMPORTANT NOTICE

The publication or distribution or release of this announcement and the Placing of the Placing Shares as set out in this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. This announcement is for information purposes only and shall not constitute or form part of an offer to buy, sell, issue, acquire or subscribe for, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, sell, issue, acquire or subscribe for any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. No action has been taken that would permit an offering of such shares or possession or distribution of this announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to such shares in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes are required to inform themselves about, and to observe, such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of such jurisdictions. 

Members of the general public are not eligible to take part in the Placing.  This announcement and any offer of securities to which it relates are only addressed to and directed at (1) in the United Kingdom and in any member state of the European Economic Area, persons who are qualified investors in such member state within the meaning of the Prospectus Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/1129) (the "Prospectus Regulation") or the United Kingdom within the meaning of the Prospectus Regulation as it forms part of retained EU law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (the "UK Prospectus Regulation") ("Qualified Investors"); and (2) in the United Kingdom, Qualified Investors who (a) have professional experience in matters relating to investments who fall within article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Market Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended) (the "Order") or (b) fall within article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order or (c) are persons to whom an offer of the Placing Shares may otherwise lawfully be made ("relevant persons").  The information regarding the Placing set out in this announcement must not be acted on or relied on by persons in the European Economic Area who are not Qualified Investors or by persons in the United Kingdom who are not relevant persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates is available in the European Economic Area only to Qualified Investors and in the United Kingdom only to relevant persons and will be engaged in only with such persons.

In particular, this announcement does not constitute or form part of any offer to buy, sell, issue, acquire or subscribe for, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, sell, issue, acquire, or subscribe for any securities in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa or any other jurisdiction into which such offer or solicitation would be unlawful.

The Placing Shares have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered, sold or transferred, directly or indirectly, within the United States, except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States.

No public offering of the securities referred to herein is being made in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa or any other jurisdiction.

No offer and sale of Placing Shares is or will be made in Canada, except to persons who are: (a) an "accredited investor" within the meaning of Section 1.1 of National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus Exemptions ("NI 45-106") of the Canadian Securities Administrators or subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario) (the "OSA"), as applicable, and is either purchasing the Placing Shares as principal for its own account, or is deemed to be purchasing the Placing Shares as principal for its own account in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws, for investment only and not with a view to resale or redistribution; (b) such person was not created or used solely to purchase or hold the Placing Shares as an accredited investor under NI 45-106; (c) a "permitted client" within the meaning of National Instrument 31-103 - Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations ("NI 31-103") of the Canadian Securities Administrators; and (d) entitled under applicable Canadian securities laws to purchase the Placing Shares without the benefit of a prospectus under such securities laws.

No prospectus or offering document has been or will be prepared in connection with the Placing.  The publicly available information of the Company is not the responsibility of, and has not been independently verified by, the Sellers, the Joint Global Co-ordinators and Joint Bookrunners, or any of their respective affiliates (as such term is defined under Rule 501(b) of Regulation D of the Securities Act) (each, an "Affiliate"). The information contained in this announcement is for background purposes only and does not purport to be full or complete.

In connection with the Placing, the Joint Global Co-ordinators and Joint Bookrunners or any of their Affiliates may take up a portion of the Placing Shares as a principal position and in that capacity may retain, purchase, sell, offer to sell for their own accounts such Placing Shares and other securities of the Company or related investments in connection with the Placing or otherwise. Accordingly, references to the shares being issued, offered, subscribed, acquired, placed or otherwise dealt in should be read as including any issue or offer to, or subscription, acquisition, placing or dealing by, the Joint Global Co-ordinators and Joint Bookrunners and any of their Affiliates acting as investors for their own accounts. The Joint Global Co-ordinators and Joint Bookrunners do not intend to disclose the extent of any such investment or transactions otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligations to do so.

The Joint Global Co-ordinators and Joint Bookrunners, are acting for the Sellers in connection with the Placing and no-one else and they will not be responsible to anyone other than the Sellers for providing for providing advice in relation to the Placing or any other matter referred to in this announcement.

No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by the Joint Global Co-ordinators and Joint Bookrunners or by any of their Affiliates or agents as to, or in relation to, the accuracy or completeness of this announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers, and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.

This announcement does not purport to identify or suggest the risks (direct or indirect) which may be associated with an investment in the Company's securities. The price of shares and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested on disposal of the shares. Past performance is no guide to future performance and persons needing advice should consult an independent financial advisor.

Information to Distributors

Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements of Chapter 3 of the FCA Handbook Product Intervention and Product Governance Sourcebook (the "UK Product Governance Requirements"), and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise, which any "manufacturer" (for the purposes of the UK Product Governance Requirements) may otherwise have with respect thereto, the Placing Shares have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that the ordinary shares in the Company (the "Ordinary Shares") are: (i) compatible with an end target market of retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, each as defined in paragraph 3 of the FCA Handbook Conduct of Business Sourcebook; and (ii) eligible for distribution through all permitted distribution channels (the "Target Market Assessment"). Notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, Distributors should note that: the price of Ordinary Shares may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the Ordinary Shares offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection; and an investment in the Ordinary Shares is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Placing.  Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, the Joint Global Co-ordinators and Joint Bookrunners will only procure investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (a) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of Chapter 9A or 10A respectively of the FCA Handbook Conduct of Business Sourcebook; or (b) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, or purchase, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the Ordinary Shares. Each Distributor is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the Ordinary Shares and determining appropriate distribution channels.