Tag: m&a
$5bn Darktrace deal to boost cyber sector
Private equity (PE) firm Thomas Bravo is to take UK cybersecurity company Darktrace private in a deal valuing the firm at over $5 billion. The US-based PE firm, which manages around $140 billion in assets, intends to use its US market experience to expand Darktrace’s worldwide operations. News of the deal comes hard on the heels of better-than-expected quarterly earnings from US tech giants Alphabet and Microsoft. Darktrace claims to be a global leader in cybersecurity artificial intelligence (AI), protecting over 9000 customers from ransomware, cloud, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) attacks. Its main research center is in Cambridge, UK, with a second research and development facility in the Hague, Netherlands. The firm holds over 145 patents and pending applications.
Cisco bets the farm on Splunk
Cisco’s US$28 billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Splunk is the largest acquisition in the networking giant’s history. It is now being seen as a clear signpost for the future value of cybersecurity companies worldwide. The price paid for the 20-year-old San Francisco company represented over 12 percent of Cisco’s US$198 billion market capitalization. The $28 billion acquisition was closed within only six months, at a time when many large mergers are being blocked or delayed by regulators. “We will revolutionize the way our customers leverage data to connect and protect every aspect of their organization as we help power and protect the AI revolution,” said Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins.
Weak cyber M&A activity shows significant slowdown – August 21st
Crunchbase News reported that “The first seven months of the year saw only 34 cyber startups get acquired,” compared to a high of 123 in 2021 and a significantly reduced 82 last year. Rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions that have already hit the tech sector hard are now clearly putting a damper on M&A activity in cyber.