Comment: Sophos sophistry, Prudential chairman, Sajid Javid Budget dilemma

So, the London Stock Exchange loses another potential tech giant.

Cyber security group Sophos first thought of floating here in 2007 but failed to get enough interest.

It had another go in 2009 before again deciding against and selling to private equity group Apax instead. Finally, in 2015, it got its IPO away.

But now, just four years later, it is being sold off to the Americans.

In doing so, it follows Inmarsat, ARM, and countless others off the London market, leaving only Sage behind.

Sophos, coming out of a recent rocky patch and cheapened by the Brexit pound, is being bought for a bargain by opportunists. Last summer, its shares were trading at 640p; today’s bid takes it out at 583p.

The bosses say Sophos will grow faster with the expertise of its new owners. But you can’t help suspecting they, and Apax, grabbed a fast buck when they saw it.

And boy was it fast; in the four years since the IPO, the duo who started the business cash out with profits of £285 million. Apax makes £177m.

You can see the appeal of all that lolly, but it’s a pity that, yet again, a UK company needs foreign buyers to get to the next level.

Surely it would have been better to see Sophos rebuild itself from the rocky 2018 rather than watch US investors reap the profits instead?

Sage is also going through a tricky time. Will it end in a similar fate?

Once again, it feels like UK tech chiefs and their backers lack the ambition and patience to build the next Google, Microsoft or Facebook.

The Saj's non-Budget Budget

Sajid Javid may get his Budget - announced today for 6 November.

But which of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s economic forecasts to use in his calculations? Deal? No-deal? Remain?

He can’t possibly know. The farce continues...

All PC at The Pru

In his seven years running the board at the Prudential, Paul Manduca has done more than three of your average chairmen.