09 Apr Cybersecurity M&A Report, Vol. 4, No. 1: Five Deals Worth $1 Billion+ Each Recorded In Early 2020
Tracking F5 Networks, Raytheon, Palo Alto Networks, LexisNexis, Accenture, and NSO
– Northport, N.Y. – April 6, 2020
Cybersecurity Ventures tracks M&A deal flow covering startups, emerging players, and the largest tech vendors. Read on for activity in the most recent quarter.
March
Mar. 31. Defiance Ventures, of Charlotte, N.C., a venture capital firm, announces acquisition of Tavve, a cybersecurity and ITOA company based in Raleigh, N.C. Defiance CTO Kevin O’Dell says his company has a roadmap for Tavve to take its banking security solutions to the next level. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Mar. 31. Palo Alto Networks, of Santa Clara, Calif., a global cybersecurity company, enters into a definitive agreement to acquire CloudGenix, of San Jose, Calif., a provider of software-defined WANs, for $420 million in cash. Palo Alto says the acquisition will be used to accelerate the intelligent onboarding of remote branches and retail stores into its Prisma Access product, a Secure Access Secure Edge platform for creating a global cloud network with cloud-delivered security for all users.
Mar. 30. Raytheon, of Waltham, Mass., a defense contractor, and United Technologies, of Farmington, Conn., an aerospace company, announce they’ve cleared all regulatory hurdles to their merger. The new company will be called Raytheon Technologies Corporation, and its common stock will trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol RTX.
Mar. 23. Hellman & Friedman, of San Francisco, a private equity firm, completes acquisition of Checkmarx, an application security company in Tel Aviv, Israel, from Insight Partners, a venture capital company in New York City, for $1.15 billion. Checkmarx CTO Benzaquen Siman says H&F will take his company’s “software equals security” vision to the next level.
Mar. 19. Xalles Holdings, of Washington, D.C., a payment solutions consulting and investment services provider, announces it will purchase 100 percent of the stock of MinervaWorks, of Atlanta, Ga., a network monitoring company. Xalles CEO Thomas Nash describes the acquisition as “strategic and accretive.”
Mar. 18. Deloitte, an audit, consulting, and financial advisory firm based in New York City, announces a strategic agreement to acquire Zimbani, of Docklands, Victoria, Australia, a technology consulting firm. The move is expected to bolster Deloitte’s Asia Pacific cybersecurity practice. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Mar. 10. Accenture, a professional services company based in Dublin, Ireland, completes acquisition of Context Information Security, a cybersecurity consultancy in London, U.K., from the Babcock International Group, also of London, an asset manager, for 107 million pounds ($132 million). The acquisition is expected to bolster Accenture’s security business, as well as expand its presence in Germany, Australia, and the United States.
Mar. 9. Aon, a professional service firm based in London, U.K., agrees to acquire Willis Tower, a global advisory and solutions company, also in London, for $30 billion in stock. Combined companies aim to share their expertise in fields of risk, including cybersecurity, intellectual property, climate change and health solutions.
Mar. 9. Watchguard Technologies, of Seattle, a network security and intelligence company, enters into a definitive agreement to acquire Panda Security, a provider of endpoint security located in Madrid, Spain. Acquisition extends Watchguard’s network offerings to the user perimeter. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Mar. 6. Dyonyx, of Houston, a virtual cloud services provider, and Single Path, a managed services, cybersecurity solutions, and IT consulting provider in Lombard, Ill. announce merger of their MSP and MSSP businesses to form a new company called Dyopath, which will offer nationwide managed IT and cybersecurity services. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Mar. 3. Mellanox Technologies, a data center services company in Sunnyvale, Calif., announces a definitive agreement to acquire Titan IC, of Belfast, U.K., a maker of network intelligence and security technologies for data centers. Mellanox says acquisition will strengthen its network intelligence capabilities. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Mar. 2. BMC, a software, services, and advisory company located in Houston, signs a definitive agreement to purchase Compuware, of Detroit, a provider of enterprise software and IT services. The combined companies are expected to help their customers better manage their needs in the areas of mainframe operations, cybersecurity, application development, data, and storage. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
February
Feb. 25. Etisalat, of Abu Dhabi, UAE, a telecommunications and media services company, completes acquisition of Help AG, a regional consultancy located in Dubai, UAE. Etisalat says acquisition will help its established lines of business to become more robust and resilient against modern-day cyber threats. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Feb. 24. McAfee, a cybersecurity company located in Santa Clara, Calif., enters into a definitive agreement to acquire Light Point Security, of Baltimore, Md., a browser isolation company. Browser isolation prevents malicious web content from infecting corporate networks by executing browser sessions in a virtual environment outside the network. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Feb. 13. NSO Group, a controversial Israeli spyware maker, announces they have re-acquired the company from Francisco Partners, a private equity firm located in San Francisco. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed, but CybereScoop reports the equity firm was shopping around its interest in the group in 2017 for $1 billion. It paid $120 million for a majority interest in NSO in 2014.
Feb. 12. Calcalist reports NSO, a controversial Israeli maker of spyware, is acquiring Convexum, a Tel Aviv startup developing counter drone technology, for $60 million in cash. NSO has confirmed the deal but not the financial terms.
Feb. 6. Advent International, a global private equity firm based in Boston, Mass., enters into a definitive agreement to acquire Forescout, of San Jose, Calif., a device visibility and control company, in a cash stock buyout deal valued at $1.9 billion. Crosspoint Capital Partners, a private equity firm located in San Mateo, Calif., is a co-partner in the deal.
Feb. 5. SafeSwiss Secure Communication, of Geneva, Switzerland, a developer of encrypted messaging and secure VOIP telephony applications, acquires Secure Swiss Data, of Zurich, a maker of consumer-based encrypted email, file storage, and file-sharing products. SSD CEO David Bruno says the acquisition will provide both companies’ users with a comprehensive end-to-end encryption suite of communication mediums within a single application. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Feb. 4. Aon, a professional service firm based in London, U.K., acquires Cytelligence, an incident response and digital forensics services company located in Toronto, Canada. Aon says the acquisition will help expand its current coverages within the cyber market. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Feb. 3. DLT Resolution, of Las Vegas, Nev., an information technology, cybersecurity, and telecommunications company, announces agreement to acquire Union Strategies, of Toronto, Canada, a provider of a wide array of services to labor unions, in a stock deal. Under the agreement, DLT will issue 1.5 million in common stock at the close of the deal and another one million shares if US grows 10 percent in the coming year and has an EBITDA of no less than $75,000.
January
Jan. 30. Ntiva, of McLean, Va., a provider of managed IT, cloud hosting, cybersecurity, unified communications and strategic IT consulting services, completes acquisition of Equilibrium IT Solutions, a managed IT services provider based in Chicago. Ntiva says acquisition will strengthen its mid-market and enterprise-focused practices across the United States. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 30. Raytheon, a defense contractor based in Waltham, Mass., pays Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm located in Austin, Texas $588 million for its minority stake in Forcepoint, also in Austin, a data protection company. The move is seen as a prelude to Raytheon exiting the data protection business.
Jan. 28. Enterprise Computing Services, of Shreveport, La., and My IT, of New Orleans, announce merger of their managed IT services businesses. The new company, which will use the My IT brand, will provide a variety of technology services to small and medium businesses in their region, including cybersecurity services. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 28. Xcede, Techstream, and Etonwood announce merger. The three high-tech recruiting firms, all based in London, U.K., will remain highly specialized in their own field with a clear focus on new and emergent technology, such as cloud computing, cybersecurity, data analytics, digital transformation, IoT, automation, and clean tech. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 28. World Health Energy Holdings, a diversified cybersecurity, energy, health and financial software company with offices in Boca Raton, Fla., and Ramat, Israel, enters into a stock deal to acquire RSN Capital, of Ramat Gan, Israel, a cybersecurity technology company. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 27. F5 Networks, of Seattle, an application delivery networking company, completes acquisition of Shape Security, of Santa Clara, Calif., an artificial intelligence powered cybersecurity, fraud, and abuse protection provider, for an estimated $1 billion. In a letter to F5 employees, CEO François Locoh-Donou notes that the acquisition will significantly advance F5’s plans to offer AI-enhanced services to customers for better visibility, management, and orchestration across their applications.
Jan. 22. ActZero, of Seattle, a provider of AI-powered managed security services, acquires IntelliGo Networks, of Toronto, Canada, also a provider of AI-powered managed detection services. Khaled Mansour, founder and president of IntelliGO, says ActZero’s expertise in AI and machine learning will help his company reduce risk for its clients. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 22. Coalition, of San Francisco, an intelligence, risk management, and insurance company, announces acquisition of BinaryEdge, of Zurich, Switzerland, maker of a search engine that identifies internet-exposed devices. Coalition says it plans to integrate BinaryEdge’s internet-wide vulnerability scanning features into its cyber insurance offering, Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 22. Private equity firms Stone Point Capital, of Greenwich, Conn., and Further Global, of New York City and Toronto, Canada, head consortium that agrees to acquire Duff & Phelps, of New York City, an advisory services company, for $4.2 billion. D&P advises companies in the areas of valuation, corporate finance, investigations, disputes, cybersecurity, compliance and regulatory matters, and other governance-related issues.
Jan. 21. VMware, of Palo Alto, Calif., a provider of cloud and virtualization services, announces intention to acquire Nyansa, of San Francisco, an AI-based network analytics company. VMware says it plans to combine Nyansa’s platform for network analytics and IoT security with its SD-WAN offering. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 15. Skyview Ventures, a venture capital firm located in Los Angeles, acquires Fidelis Cybersecurity, of Bethesda, Md., maker of a solution that automates deception, detection, and response across network, endpoint, and cloud environments. “This transaction aligns well with our investment philosophy of targeting and investing in mission critical technology businesses across a wide spectrum of verticals, from telecommunications to cybersecurity,” says Alex Soltani, Skyview chairman and CEO. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 14. Wind River, of Alameda, Calif., maker of software for edge applications, acquires Star Lab, of Washington, D.C., an embedded systems security company. Wind River says acquisition will broaden its product portfolio with a system protection and anti-tamper toolset for Linux. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 14. Cellebrite, of Petah Tikva, Israel, maker of digital intelligence solutions for law enforcement, government, and enterprise agencies, announces definitive agreement to acquire BlackBag Technologies, of San Jose, Calif., a developer of digital forensic and incident response software. Yossi Carmil, co-CEO of Cellebrite, says the acquisition will allow his company to accelerate the delivery of new digital intelligence solutions and services that will empower its customers and allow them to maximize the efficiency and accuracy of their digital investigations. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 13. LexisNexis Risk Solutions, of Alpharetta, Ga., a risk information provider, agrees to acquire ID Analytics, of San Diego, a provider of credit and fraud risk solutions for enterprises, for $375 million. According to NortonLifeLock, a consumer cyber safety company located in Tempe, Ariz., which owned IDA, the sale is another step in the transformation of Norton into a pure play consumer safety company.
Jan. 10. Kroll, a risk management company based in New York City, acquires RP Digital Security, of Singapore, a computer forensics firm. The deal is expected to increase Kroll’s cyber risk capabilities across the Asia Pacific region. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 9. Synopsys, of Mountain View, Calif., a provider of services to companies that develop electronic products and applications, completes acquisition of Tinfoil Security, of Palo Alto, a solutions provider for dynamic application security testing and application programming interface testing. Synopsys says acquisition allows it to expand its DAST capabilities and add API testing to its service lineup. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 8. Indra, of Madrid, Spain, a technology information and services provider, acquires SIA, of Macerata, Italy, a provider of cybersecurity services to financial institutions. Cristina Ruiz, Indra executive director and IT business senior vice president, says that the integration of SIA and Indra’s cybersecurity businesses will allow the pair to create a wide-ranging and integrated offering and a global presence that will enable them to respond to global threats. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 8. Rockwell Automation, of Milwaukee, an industrial automation and digital transformation company, agrees to acquire Avnet Data Security, of Rishon Le Zion, Israel, an IT security services provider. Rockwell Senior Vice President Frank Kulaszewicz says, “Avnet’s combination of service delivery, training, research, and managed services will enable us to service a much larger set of customers globally while also continuing to accelerate our portfolio development in this rapidly developing market.” Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 7. Accenture, a professional services company based in Dublin, Ireland, agrees to acquire Symantec’s cybersecurity services business from Broadcom, of San Jose, Calif., a designer, developer, and supplier of digital connectivity solutions. According to Accenture, the acquisition will make it one of the leading providers of managed security services, further enhancing its ability to help companies rapidly anticipate, detect, and respond to cyber threats. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 7. Cloudflare, of San Francisco, a web performance and security company, announces acquisition of S2 Systems, of Kirkland, Wash., a browser isolation software maker. Cloudflare co-founder and CEO Matthew Prince says the acquisition will be part of a new suite of products called Cloudflare for Teams, which has been designed to protect an organization from threats on the internet. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 6. Mimecast, an email and data security company located in Lexington, Mass., announces acquisition of Segasec, of Tel Aviv, Israel, a digital threat protection provider. Mimecast says acquisition will allow its customers to better defend themselves against attacks that leverage fake websites and domains for credential harvesting of customers, employees, partners, and third party vendors within supply chains. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
Jan. 6. Insight Partners, a venture capital company in New York City, agrees to acquire Armis, of Palo Alto, Calif., maker of an agentless IoT security solution, for $1.1 billion. Armis will continue to operate independently and will be fully managed by its two co-founders, CEO Yevgeny Dibrov and CTO Nadir Izrael. “We considered growth rounds and strategic offers,” Dibrov says, “but by partnering with Insight, we have the best of both worlds — operational support and independence, both of which were important in our decision to take on a scaleup partner this early in our company journey.”
John P. Mello, Jr. is a freelance writer specializing in business and technology subjects, including consumer electronics, business computing and cyber security.
