Oct 21 (Reuters) - Cybersecurity firm Sophos, which is backed by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, said on Monday it will acquire Secureworks for $859 million in an all-cash deal to strengthen its cybersecurity offering for small, mid and enterprise customers.

Reuters previously reported Secureworks shareholder Dell Technologies had investment bankers from Morgan Stanley and Piper Sandler assess takeover interest from potential buyers, including private equity firms, after earlier unsuccessful sale attempts.

Secureworks shareholders, including Dell, will receive $8.50 per share in cash from UK-based Sophos. The stock closed at $8.47 on Friday.

Thoma Bravo is building a portfolio of cybersecurity assets, notably acquiring UK's Darktrace for around $5.3 billion earlier this year.

Founded in 1998, the Atlanta, Georgia-based Secureworks offers security services to protect corporations from cyberattacks. Its flagship cloud-based platform Taegis helps detect advanced threats, according to its website.

Dell acquired Secureworks for $612 million in 2011 before listing its shares through an initial public offering in New York in 2016. It earlier explored a sale of Secureworks in 2019.

Secureworks has struggled to compete and differentiate its offerings against larger cybersecurity providers. It reported breakeven results with a quarterly loss of 17 cents per share in the quarter ended July 31.

The transaction is expected to close in early 2025.

(Reporting by Rishi Kant in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)

((Rishi.Kant@thomsonreuters.com;))