Latest M&A: Synopsys, Tenable, Kaseya, Sophos, Citrix, Microsoft, More
About half of the acquisitions we highlight involve cybersecurity firms.
May 12, 2022
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KKR, a global investment firm, is acquiring Barracuda Networks from Thoma Bravo in a deal reportedly worth about $4 billion.
KKR didn’t disclose financial details of the acquisition. However, Reuters said sources who requested anonymity valued the deal at $4 billion, including debt. The transaction should close by the end of the year, subject to customary conditions.
Thoma Bravo acquired Barracuda in 2018 in a $1.6 billion cash deal.
Barracuda focuses on serving SMEs and has more than 200,000 customers worldwide across a variety of industries. That includes education, government, financial services, health care, retail, consumer goods and manufacturing.
Learn about the near-term and short-term opportunities regarding this deal.
Looking to boost the business process automation (BPA) capabilities of its Power Automate tool, Microsoft is buying process mining provider Minit. The terms were not disclosed.
Minit is among a handful of providers of process mining technology. According to market researcher Everest Group’s 2021 process mining PEAK Matrix, Minit, Celonis, Software AG and UiPath are the leading providers, among 18 assessed.
Minit is a startup founded in 2015 by Rasto Hlavac after spending two years researching process mining at Slovak University. Hlavac last year turned over the CEO reigns to James Dening, a former VP at leading RPA provider Automation Anywhere.
Go here to learn more about the role of process mining in power automate.
Bridgepointe Technologies has made one of its IT strategists an equity partner in the company.
Bridgepointe, which landed a $100 million-plus investment from Charlesbank Capital Partners earlier this year, just announced an investment in Tony Lenci’s sales agency. Lenci joins a growing list of subcontractors (known as “IT strategists”) Bridgepointe has named as partner. The deal gives Lenci more incentive toward Bridgepointe’s financial success.
“Our goal is to help our partners unlock new opportunities in their customer base as well as new opportunities. Tony joining us as a partner is a testament to the power of our vision for organic growth,” Bridgepointe co-founder Brian Miller said.
Learn more about Lenci’s background here.
It was an acquisition that rocked the MSP world. Kaseya bought Datto for $6.2 billion.
Fred Voccola is Kaseya’s CEO. He said this is exciting news for Kaseya’s global customers, who can expect to see more functional, innovative and integrated solutions as a result of the purchase.
“Datto has a legendary commitment to its customers and employees. The alignment of our missions and focus makes us a natural fit, that will help our greatly appreciated customers reach new levels of success. Kaseya is known for our outstanding track record of retaining the brands and cultures of the companies we acquire and supercharging product quality. We couldn’t be more excited about what lies before us — Kaseya and Datto will be better together to serve our customers,” Voccola said.
Read what Datto had to say about the deal.
A deal hasn’t happened quite yet for Everbridge, the critical event management provider, but it might. There’s an ongoing conflict between Ancora Holdings Group, which is a significant shareholder of Everbridge. Ancora has urged the Everbridge board of directors to evaluate sale opportunities and engage with a broad set of potential buyers. Everbridge is dramatically undervalued at its current share price, executives at Ancora have said.
Read more about this dispute here and here.
Synopsys is buying WhiteHat Security for $330 million in cash. Synopsys should finalize the acquisition in the third quarter.
WhiteHat will expand Synopsys application security SaaS capabilities. The two companies share a vision for delivering SaaS-based security testing solutions and building security into the software development life cycle.
Learn how WhiteHat brings powerful technology and expertise to Synopsys.
Tenable has scooped up Bit Discovery for $44.5 million.
Bit Discovery provides external attack surface management (EASM). Combining Tenable’s cyber exposure solutions with Bit Discovery’s EASM capabilities will provide customers with a differentiated 360-degree view of the modern attack surface – both inside out and outside in – to identify and eliminate areas of known and unknown security risk.
Glen Pendley is Tenable‘s CTO.
“From a partner perspective, this acquisition will open up a lot of doors by improving our entire product portfolio,” he said. “It’s not just a standalone product that we’re bringing to market. After closing, Tenable will leverage Bit Discovery’s EASM solutions across its entire portfolio – from enterprise VM to Nessus, from cloud to OT to identity – boosting security effectiveness dramatically.”
Bit Discovery is Tenable’s fifth acquisition.
Read Edward Gately’s reporting about the deal here.
Citrix shareholders have approved the $16.5 billion offer by a group of private equity investors announced earlier this year, but it’s not without controversy. A vote approving the deal occurred despite an investor lawsuit seeking documentation that Citrix considered alternative options.
The deal is still on schedule to close by midyear, pending approvals and typical closing conditions, according to Citrix. But the Citrix shareholder vote comes amid a continued surge of longtime Citrix employee and executive departures. Among them is Citrix channel chief Mark Palomba, who just assumed that role six months ago.
Go here for more information about Palomba’s departure and the shareholder lawsuit.
HelpSystems has acquired Terranova Security, a provider of phishing simulation and security awareness training. The companies aren’t disclosing financial details of the acquisition.
Terranova Security helps users detect email phishing attempts and other cyberattacks through education and simulation. It’s available to in more than 40 languages.
The company extends HelpSystems’ overall security suite with a security awareness training solution.
This acquisition follows HelpSystems’ recent acquisitions of Tripwire for file integrity monitoring and Alert Logic for managed detection and response (MDR).
Discover why security awareness training is critical to organizations.
Sophos has acquired SOC.OS, which provides a cloud-based security alert investigation and triage automation solution. It will enhance Sophos’ managed threat response (MTR) and extended detection and response (XDR) solutions.
SOC.OS’ solution consolidates and prioritizes high volumes of security alerts from multiple products and platforms across an organization’s estate. It allows security operations teams to quickly understand and respond to the most urgent cases flagged.
SOC.OS launched in 2020 and is a spinout of BAE Systems Digital Intelligence. The company is privately held and based in the United Kingdom.
Sophos didn’t disclose financial details of the acquisition.
Learn why Sophos partners are excited about the SOC.OS buy.
Vector Capital is taking majority ownership of WatchGuard Technologies. It’s acquiring interests previously owned by Francisco Partners and other co-investors.
During Vector and Francisco Partners’ joint ownership for more than a decade, WatchGuard transformed from a network security vendor to a cybersecurity platform provider. The company’s Unified Security Platform enables more than 17,000 MSPs to protect the environments, users and networks of more than 250,000 businesses worldwide.
Vector will partner with WatchGuard’s management team to help the company grow.
The company has said this transaction will impact partners in a positive way. Learn more here.
Vector Capital is taking majority ownership of WatchGuard Technologies. It’s acquiring interests previously owned by Francisco Partners and other co-investors.
During Vector and Francisco Partners’ joint ownership for more than a decade, WatchGuard transformed from a network security vendor to a cybersecurity platform provider. The company’s Unified Security Platform enables more than 17,000 MSPs to protect the environments, users and networks of more than 250,000 businesses worldwide.
Vector will partner with WatchGuard’s management team to help the company grow.
The company has said this transaction will impact partners in a positive way. Learn more here.
It’s no secret that M&A is on fire. We typically highlight a ton of mergers and acquisitions in our monthly roundup, but the number of deals seems to keep growing exponentially. So instead, this edition highlights some involving Microsoft, Sophos, Kaseya and others – that truly made an impact.
For instance, private equity shelled out $16.5 billion for one company. This was followed by another well-documented deal for $6.2 billion in the MSP arena.
About half of the M&A from April that we’re highlighting involve cybersecurity firms. The acquired companies do everything from phishing simulation and security awareness training to cloud-based security alert investigation. Considering international conflict, cybersecurity has become more critical these days. In simple terms, technology security is “hot” right now and there’s a ton of value in that.
What’s not hot? Unfortunately, two firms that operate within the channel face difficult circumstances. One has experienced a continued departure of longtime employees, including its channel chief. Another is going through a public dispute involving shareholders and its board of directors. All of this surrounds the sale or proposed sale of the companies.
In the slideshow above, learn more about April’s mergers and acquisitions, and what trends might be in store for the channel.
Want to contact the author directly about this story? Have ideas for a follow-up article? Email Claudia Adrien or connect with her on LinkedIn. |
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