NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) - Israeli cybersecurity

firm Cato Networks, which was valued at more than $3 billion in

a private funding round last year, has hired underwriters for an

initial public offering in New York, according to people

familiar with the matter.

Cato has tapped Goldman Sachs ( GS ), JPMorgan Chase ( JPM )

, and Barclays ( JJCTF ) to lead preparations for a stock

market flotation that could come by early 2025, possibly sooner

if equity capital markets rebound this year, the sources said,

requesting anonymity as the discussions are confidential.

Cato is looking to raise more than $500 million, one of the

sources said, adding that the company has yet to finalize the

valuation it will target at the time of its IPO.

JPMorgan ( JPM ) and Barclays ( JJCTF ) declined to comment. Cato and

Goldman Sachs ( GS ) did not immediately respond to requests for

comment.

Since its founding in 2015, Cato has raised more than $770

million, according to PitchBook. It raised $238 million in a

private funding round last year that was led by LightSpeed

Venture Partners, with participation from other investors

including Adams Street Partners, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Sixty

Degree Capital and Singtel Innov8.

Cato's co-founder and CEO Shlomo Kramer also co-founded

Check Point Software Technologies ( CHKP ), which is currently

valued at over $19 billion.

In February, Cato said it posted annual revenue growth of

59% in 2023. It currently counts more than 2,200 enterprise

customers, including Carlsberg and the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula

E.

The IPO market is showing early signs of rebounding, with

several big names including social media firm Reddit also

preparing to go public. The market for stock market flotations

was largely subdued over the past two years due to market

volatility and high interest rates, delaying the listing plans

of several large tech unicorns.