Thales Security Acquires Vormetric for $400 Million

Thales Security, an e-Security and cryptographic solutions vendor, has acquired Vormetric for $400 million in cash, the company announced on Tuesday.

The acquisition is expected to expand Thales’ existing cybersecurity offering by incorporating Vormetric’s data protection solutions into its portfolio. The deal is scheduled to close during the first quarter of 2016.

“The acquisition of Vormetric is a great opportunity to accelerate the growth of our cybersecurity activities,” said Patrice Caine, chairman and CEO of Thales, in a statement. “Combining Thales’ critical IT systems protection capabilities with Vormetric’s know-how in data protection will create a global leader in data security, offering comprehensive solutions for protecting enterprises against cybersecurity threats.”

Thales said its purchase of Vormetric will give the company a leg up on the competition by allowing it to offer a well-rounded security offering, especially as the prominence of high-profile breaches continues to make the global cybersecurity market more profitable than ever.

The complete integration is expected to take at least 12 months, according to the announcement. Both companies will work on integrating their product portfolios and continue to work on developing products for their individual customer bases.

Thales also will keep the Vormetric brand in place and said it has no plans to downsize the company’s current staff.

Vormetric President and CEO Alan Kessler will continue to lead the company under Thales’ ownership. Both the current Thales and Vormetric leadership teams are also expected to remain in place.

“The opportunity to join Thales has come at a time when the world is focused on data to enable business due to the explosive growth of mobile, cloud and social media,” said Kessler. “Jointly we are in a unique position to offer leading security solutions to protect data, while broadening the support to our customers and partners globally.”