Sophos joins the UK’s top public companies in the FTSE 250

From small beginnings in the shadows of Oxford’s dreaming spires, Sophos has become one of the biggest success stories of the UK technology sector.

This July, Sophos (LSE: SOPH) broke records with the largest ever IPO in the UK for a software company, valued at $1.6 billion (£1.1 billion). On Friday, Sophos officially entered the FTSE 250, bringing new attention to Sophos from the UK investor community, and new awareness of our success around the world.

The FTSE 100, or Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, to give it its proper title, lists the 100 companies with the highest market capitalization in the UK. The FTSE 250 is an index of the next largest companies. These indexes are similar to the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Index of blue chip stocks in the U.S.

The FTSE 100 contains about 80% of the entire market cap on the London Stock Exchange, with the FTSE 250 holding about 15%.

That doesn’t mean that the FTSE 250 receives less attention and scrutiny than the FTSE 100 – in fact, many market watchers tend to view the FTSE 250 as a more accurate indicator of UK prosperity than the FTSE 100, which is made up primarily of the largest multinational companies.

It’s remarkable how far we’ve come since Sophos was founded.

We’ve grown from a UK antivirus and encryption software vendor, into a global company with a complete portfolio of security products that leverage the cloud to protect the network, endpoints, server, data and mobile devices. Our products secure more than 100 million people in businesses, governments, schools and homes in 150 countries. And we’ve been recognized year after year by independent analysts as leaders in the industry.

We’re not stopping there. Stay tuned for the next revolution that will shake up the security industry …