Tag Archives: Cybersecurity

CapMan Buyout invests in fast-growing cybersecurity and IT services provider Netox

Capman

CapMan Buyout press release
July 08 2022 at 10:00 AM EEST

CapMan Buyout invests in fast-growing cybersecurity and IT services provider Netox

CapMan Buyout has entered into an agreement to invest in fast-growing cybersecurity and IT services provider Netox. The company holds a unique offering and business model, especially suitable for SMEs and public sector clients. The company has grown rapidly over the past years, all the while building and maintaining a strong winning culture and attracting highly skilled professionals within the sector. CapMan Buyout will acquire a majority equity stake in the company, Netox founder and CEO Mikko Luhtaniemi and current Chairman of the Board, Niko Candelin, together with other key employees, will continue as significant shareholders in the company.

Netox was founded in 2004 by Mikko Luhtaniemi, currently CEO. Niko Candelin, currently Chairman of the Board and Chief Enterprise Architect at the company joined shortly after. The company’s core businesses are Cyber Security, Cloud, Server and Network services, which are up to 80% recurring revenue. Netox’s combination of a broad IT service offering, and an advanced end-to-end IT security offering puts them in a unique market position, especially towards SME and public sector clients who favour a one-stop shop partner. Currently, the company serves over 100 customers of which many are well recognized, fast-growing, and internationalising Finnish companies and societally significant public sector players.

Netox operates in a growing market, driven especially by growth in cybersecurity services, and has grown at rates exceeding market growth. Since 2019, Netox has achieved sales growth of 80% per annum. Simultaneously, the company has managed to attract high-calibre experts and management, growing from 74 employees in 2020 to 129 employees in 2022. The company still holds a relatively small market share, and is in an excellent position to continue its accelerated growth.

“We are very excited about partnering up with CapMan for the next part of our journey. We have grown fast in recent years, but we see this as just the beginning. As we continue to expand, the key for us will be to continuously develop our internal processes and business model in order to always be the most trusted partner for our clients in meeting their IT and cybersecurity needs. Together with CapMan, we’ll be able to take the company to the next level in a sustainable way with a long-term vision,” says Mikko Luhtaniemi, CEO at Netox.

“We are highly impressed by the Netox team, their strong expertise and impressive growth story. The founding team and management have done an excellent job in developing the company to what it is today. Already from the first meeting, we also felt a strong alignment and shared vision on the future, and what it will take for Netox to continue to outperform. We are excited to get the opportunity to partner with Netox, and together strengthen the company’s ways of working to support the continued high growth expected. As a niche market leader with a winning culture, the company is perfectly aligned with CapMan Buyout’s investment strategy,” says Pia Kåll, Managing Partner at CapMan Buyout

CapMan acquires a majority equity stake in the company. Mikko Luhtaniemi, Niko Candelin and other key employees continue as significant minority owners of the company. Bocap’s growth fund (Bocap SME Achievers Fund II Ky) sells all their shares in the transaction.

The CapMan Buyout team comprises of investment professionals working in Helsinki and Stockholm. The funds managed by CapMan Buyout invest in medium-sized, unlisted companies in the Nordic countries. The investment in Netox is the sixth investment from the CapMan Buyout XI fund. The transaction is expected to close in July 2022.

For more information, please contact:

Pia Kåll, Managing Partner at CapMan Buyout, +358 40 766 4446

Mikko Luhtaniemi, CEO at Netox Oy, +358 40 509 6530

About CapMan

CapMan is a leading Nordic private asset expert with an active approach to value creation. As one of the private equity pioneers in the Nordics we have built value in unlisted businesses, real estate, and infrastructure for over three decades. With over €4.7 billion in assets under management, our objective is to provide attractive returns and innovative solutions to investors. We are dedicated to set science-based targets to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. We have a broad presence in the unlisted market through our local and specialised teams. Our investment strategies cover minority and majority investments in portfolio companies and real estate, and infrastructure assets. We also provide wealth management solutions. Our service business includes procurement and analysis, reporting and back office services. Altogether, CapMan employs approximately 180 professionals in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, London and Luxembourg. We have been listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki since 2001. Read more at www.capman.com

About Netox

Founded in 2004, Netox provides a unique combination of cybersecurity and IT by combining top expertise from international research, leading technology solutions, award winning customer support team and industry’s best practices with a strong focus on cybersecurity. Netox has offices in three different locations nationwide (Oulu, Tampere and Helsinki) and also acts as a trusted partner of both public and private sector. Netox’s vision is to be the Customer’s most trusted and valued partner with a mission to enable and secure their Customer’s business continuity and help them to achieve and maintain both technical and operative edge in the digital world. Netox is committed to sustainable development with values that guide all Netox’s operations, including: sustainability, reliability and expertise.

Netox’s services have the most important international certifications with regular and independent audits:

  • ISO 9001 quality management certificate
  • ISO 27001 certificate for information security management systems
  • 20000-1 Service Management Systems Certificate
  • ISO 14001 Environmental management system

Read more at https://netox.fi

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KKR Leads $200+ Million Growth Investment in Enterprise Identity Protection Leader Semperis

KKR

HOBOKEN, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Semperis, a pioneer in identity-driven cyber resilience for enterprises, today announced it has raised over $200 million in Series C funding led by KKR, with participation from Ten Eleven Ventures, Paladin Capital Group, Atrium Health Strategic Fund, Tech Pioneers Fund, and existing investors including Insight Partners. Semperis is the fastest-growing cybersecurity company in America per the Financial Times 2022 ranking. The new funding will help enable Semperis to accelerate hiring across all functions globally to better support its expanding customer base, with an emphasis on its identity-focused incident response team.

@SemperisTech, a pioneer in identity-driven cyber resilience for enterprises, today announced it has raised over $200 million in Series C funding led by @KKR_Co

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Identity systems such as Microsoft Active Directory (AD) and Azure AD, used in over 90% of enterprises, are coming under sustained attack. With its multi-layered defense approach before, during, and after an attack, Semperis offers the industry’s most comprehensive security technology for hybrid AD and other identity systems, combined with incident response expertise.

“From day one, Semperis has been on a mission to be a force for good,” said Semperis CEO Mickey Bresman, who co-founded Semperis along with Guy Teverovsky and Matan Liberman. “With Semperis’ multi-layered identity protection, organizations can fend off cyber attacks without being forced to choose between two bad options: paying the criminals or getting shut down. With the combined experience that KKR, Ten Eleven Ventures, Insight Partners, and other esteemed investors in this round bring scaling high-growth cybersecurity companies, we have an elite group of strategic partners in our corner to help advance our mission.”

KKR is investing in Semperis through its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund II, a fund dedicated to growth equity investment opportunities in the technology space. Ben Pederson, Director on KKR’s Tech Growth team, has joined Semperis’ Board of Directors.

“A very dedicated customer base, including a growing number of the largest organizations in the world, trust Semperis to defend their critical identity systems from cyberattacks,” said Ben Pederson. “The vast majority of attacks today are identity-based, targeting credentials to infiltrate businesses. Semperis’ leading identity protection technology and incident response expertise are delivering category-defining innovation, and KKR is proud to back their mission.”

In addition to scaling its staff, Semperis is dedicating a significant portion of the funding round to research and development to drive further innovation in the identity system defense market, focusing on its Directory Services Protector platform, which Gartner categorizes as an identity threat detection and response (ITDR) solution. Gartner included ITDR in its top cybersecurity trends for 2022, noting that credential misuse is a primary method attackers use to access systems and achieve their goals.

“Semperis is driving innovation in one of the most historically overlooked but critical areas of cybersecurity: identity system defense,” said Ten Eleven Ventures Founder and General Partner, Mark Hatfield. “This new funding round, among the largest cybersecurity raises so far in 2022, will enable Semperis to continue to grow its commanding position in this increasingly important market segment.”

“We’re thrilled to participate in another funding round with Semperis and continue to offer support for our mutually successful strategic partnership,” said Insight Partners Managing Director, Teddie Wardi. “We believe in Semperis’ unique approach of securing the foundational identity infrastructure, which combines industry-leading technology and incident response support to offer customers a complete identity system defense.”

Frost & Sullivan awarded Semperis the 2022 Competitive Strategy Leadership Award based on the company’s innovation and customer impact in the global AD security and recovery market.

“Semperis has unmatched experience in breach preparedness and incident response to Active Directory and other identity-based cyberattacks,” said Frost & Sullivan Industry Principal, Sarah Pavlak. “Semperis’ solution-based approach focuses not only on their premier technology to meet customer challenges but also best practices and guidance for people and processes, setting them apart from their competitors.”

For more information about Semperis’ directory protection technology and expertise or to learn about open career opportunities, visit Semperis.com.

About Semperis
For security teams charged with defending hybrid and multi-cloud environments, Semperis ensures the integrity and availability of critical enterprise directory services at every step in the cyber kill chain and cuts recovery time by 90%. Purpose-built for securing hybrid Active Directory environments, Semperis’ patented technology protects over 50 million identities from cyberattacks, data breaches, and operational errors. The world’s leading organizations trust Semperis to spot directory vulnerabilities, intercept cyberattacks in progress, and quickly recover from ransomware and other data integrity emergencies. Semperis is headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey, and operates internationally, with its research and development team distributed throughout the United States, Canada, and Israel.

Semperis hosts the award-winning Hybrid Identity Protection conference and podcast series (www.hipconf.com) and built the free Active Directory security assessment tool, Purple Knight (www.purple-knight.com). The company has received the highest level of industry accolades, recently named to Inc. Magazine’s list of best workplaces for 2022 and ranked the fastest-growing cybersecurity company in America by the Financial Times. Semperis is a Microsoft Enterprise Cloud Alliance and Co-Sell partner.

Twitter https://twitter.com/SemperisTech
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/semperis
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SemperisTech
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCycrWXhxOTaUQ0sidlyN9SA

About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

About Ten Eleven Ventures
Ten Eleven Ventures is the original venture capital firm focused solely on investing in digital security. The firm invests globally and at all stages, from seed to growth (the latter via its Joint Investment Alliance with KKR). Since its founding in Silicon Valley in 2015, Ten Eleven Ventures has raised nearly $US 500 million and invested in 40 leading cybersecurity companies including Twistlock, Verodin, Cylance, KnowBe4, Darktrace, and Ping Identity. For more information, please visit www.1011vc.com or follow us on Twitter @1011vc.

Contacts

Media:
For Semperis:
Ashley Crutchfield, fama PR
617-986-5025
semperis@famapr.com

For KKR:
Julia Kosygina and Miles Radcliffe-Trenner
212-750-8300
media@kkr.com

For Ten Eleven Ventures:
Megan Dubofsky
917-576-5590
mdubofsky@1011vc.com

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European cybersecurity company Pointsharp enters the German market by acquiring Cryptshare

Main Capital Partners

Stockholm, 30 March 2022 – Pointsharp, backed by Main Capital Partners (“Main”), today announces its second add-on acquisition in the form of German-based secure communication specialist Cryptshare AG (“Cryptshare”).

With this acquisition, Sweden-based Pointsharp continues its impressive growth journey as it bids to become the leading provider of European-made cybersecurity products, thus strengthening European data sovereignty. Together with Cryptshare, Pointsharp is now well positioned to compete with global competitors.

Pointsharp enables companies to build a better, modern and more secure workplace. Main first invested in Pointsharp in 2020 to support the company in its next phase of growth, with a keen focus on international expansion.

In 2021, Swedish company Secmaker was added to the Pointsharp portfolio, which created a leading Nordic player in the Identity and Access Management market (“IAM”) . This acquisition of Cryptshare further strengthens Pointsharp’s position as a leading security software player in the European market, currently servicing more than 3,000 customers.

Cryptshare enables organisations to secure their digital communication, protect sensitive data and comply with GDPR regulations. Among its clients are organisations with high demand for online security, such as local governments, financial institutions, healthcare organisations, and manufacturers across the DACH region, Benelux, the Nordics and the United Kingdom.

Complete security software suite
The Pointsharp group now offers a comprehensive suite of solutions and services that enables a secure workflow from access to communication. The solutions range from advanced authentication, secure application publication, device security, lifecycle provisioning, secure email and file transfer to enterprise collaboration.

The acquisition of Cryptshare comes at a time where there is an increasing need for software that improves data safety in society and work environments, in a world that is dominated by increasing digitisation and automation of processes. The global messaging security market is expected to reach a value of USD 11.10 billion by 2025, growing by more than 13 % year on year. Main currently manages three other platform companies in the broader security software market: Sivis (Germany), Oribi and ReadID (Netherlands).

Developing a leading European IT security player
Pointsharp, founded in 2006, has grown from 10 FTE in 2020 to approximately 120 FTE in 2022, with a combined revenue of approximately EUR14 million. Together the group services clients such as Akademiska Sjukhuset Uppsala, Friesland Campina, ThyssenKrupp, Audi, Försäkringskassan, Region Blekinge, Karolinska Institutet, Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund and Nottingham County Council.

Niklas Brask, Managing Director at Pointsharp Group, commented:
“Pointsharp is on a rapid and exciting journey to build a leading European IT security player. We offer a complete suite of security software solutions to help companies build a better, modern and more secure workplace. By partnering with Cryptshare, we are broadening our software and SaaS offering as well as our geographic reach across Europe. Together with Cryptshare, we will look not only to make our companies stronger and more advanced but also to service our customers and partners even better, with European-made IT security software and cloud solutions.”

Dominik Lehr, Founder and CEO at Cryptshare, commented:
“We have recognised that in the fragmented European vendor landscape it is crucial to join forces to become a leading SaaS and software player. So, the idea is to create larger organizations by combining different and locally strong technology vendors, which together represent a real European alternative to US technology providers. By connecting Cryptshare and Pointsharp, Main supports us with knowledge and capital while growing our German market leadership in secure digital logistics to a European scale. We welcome our new colleagues and thank them for the professional and considerate cooperation, which I personally could not observe in any other merger project so far. I am more than happy to kick-off our joint journey.”

Wessel Ploegmakers, Partner and co-Head of the Nordics office at Main, concluded:
“This strategic combination with Cryptshare symbolises another important step in Pointsharp’s growth journey as it seeks to become the leading European security player while also competing with the larger US vendors. Furthermore, the acquisition of Cryptshare enables Pointsharp to enter a key strategic growth market in Germany. We are delighted with the improved international outlook for the group as it also simultaneously adds strong and complementary solutions to the already impressive service offering.”

Pointsharp
Pointsharp was founded in 2006 and has since enabled organizations to secure their digital identities and logins by combining the ability to meet the highest security demands and today’s need for user friendly solutions. Pointsharp has a broad solution offering in the Identity and Access Management market related to multi-factor authentication, secure access, encryption, digital signature, user provisioning and password management. The company serves more than 3,000 enterprise organizations globally with high security or sensitive data needs in several different market verticals, including finance, governmental, and industrial.

Cryptshare
Cryptshare was founded in 2000 and is based in Freiburg, Germany. The company provides a comprehensive solution suite tailored towards secure communication. By combining ad hoc file transfer with email encryption the company help customers to protect data in transit outside and inside their IT environment. With 75 employees, Cryptshare services over 2.000 clients across Europe via its global partner network supporting a strong foothold across the DACH, Benelux, UK and Nordic region.

Main Capital Partners
Main Capital Partners is a strategic investor with an exclusive focus on enterprise software companies. Main has almost 20 years of experience in building strong software groups in the Benelux, the DACH-region and the Nordics. Main specialises in helping management teams within mature and growing software companies achieve sustainable growth by working closely together as a strategic partner. Main has a workforce of 45 employees working from offices in The Hague, Stockholm and Düsseldorf, offering support on a strategic and a pragmatic level. As of October 2021, Main Capital has approximately €2.2 billion assets under management. Main has invested in more than 130 software companies to date. These companies have created jobs for approximately 4,000 employees.

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Shark Tank Star Joins Forces with Cybersecurity Visionary to Form New Industry Powerhouse

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Apax
30th December 2021

Award-winning cybersecurity solutions providers Fishtech Group (“Fishtech”) and Herjavec Group (“Herjavec”) are pleased to announce their merger, backed by funds advised by Apax Partners LLP (the “Apax Funds”). The two innovative companies will operate as a single entity under a new brand to be announced in early 2022. The Apax Funds will hold a majority stake in the new company while Robert Herjavec, Founder & CEO of Herjavec Group and star of ABC’s Emmy award winning ratings giant “Shark Tank,” and Gary Fish, Founder and CEO of Fishtech Group, will each maintain significant equity in the new business.

The deal brings together the complementary strengths of both organizations, resulting in an industry powerhouse with a broad, holistic suite of best-in-class managed detection and response capabilities (MDR), professional services, and identity offerings with a global perspective to address enterprise customers’ increasingly complex information security needs. Joining the forces of Herjavec, a market leader in cloud and tech-enabled co-managed SIEM, with Fishtech, a market leader in enterprise MDR, will allow the new company to provide customers with unparalleled security and cloud expertise, driving security maturity as a competitive differentiator via advanced technology and services across the industry landscape.

At the time of the merger, the new organization brings together more than 600 security professionals operating out of 6 security operations centers (SOCs): Kansas City, Toronto, London, Ottawa, Arkansas, and Bangalore. The combined company will have one of the largest managed security engineering teams under one roof – entirely dedicated to delivering innovative solutions to enterprise clients.

Robert Herjavec, founder of Herjavec Group, will serve as Chief Executive Officer of the combined entity. Gary Fish, founder of Fishtech Group, will serve as Chairman of the Board. They will actively work to continue their track record of customer-focused success. The financial terms of the transaction (which is subject to applicable regulatory approvals) are not disclosed.

Founded in 2003 and acquired by the Apax Funds in February 2021, Herjavec has been recognized as one of the world’s most innovative cybersecurity firms and is currently ranked as the #1 MSSP in the world (Cyber Defense Magazine 2021 Top 100 MSSPs List). Fishtech was founded in 2016 to bring security to the cloud while identifying vulnerabilities and introducing next-generation solutions to help organizations minimize risk.

“We’re exceptionally proud of our results to date and even more excited about the growth to come,” said Gary Fish, CEO of Fishtech. “We’re honored that so many organizations trust Fishtech to be their managed solutions provider. With complementary offerings from Herjavec, we will transform the security industry globally.”

“We could not be more thrilled to join forces with industry pioneer Gary Fish, whom I have known for decades,” said Robert Herjavec, CEO of Herjavec Group. “We are very impressed by Fishtech’s MDR offerings and its proprietary platform built on Google Chronicle, which we consider highly differentiated. Jointly, we want to double down on the investment behind this market-leading solution and strengthen what are already deep partnerships. Having built one of the strongest tech teams in the industry and a leading portfolio of services, our customers will benefit from enhanced operations, getting stronger as we help accelerate their digital transformation.”

“We are truly excited by the combination of Herjavec and Fishtech,” said Rohan Haldea, Partner at Apax. “By putting together two best-in-class organizations, we are confident that the combined platform will become an undisputed leader in cybersecurity services in the enterprise segment and have an opportunity to redefine the market category.”

The Apax Funds, in partnership with the newly formed company’s management team, will help build on the companies’ impressive growth rates to date by enhancing international expansion efforts, continuing to invest behind differentiated technology and augmenting the talented team with additional threat intelligence and identity resources.

Polsinelli serves Fishtech Group as legal counsel and Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel to Herjavec Group and Apax Funds. Momentum Cyber is serving as financial advisor to Fishtech Group and BKD, LLP as tax advisor in connection with the transaction.

Company

Herjavec Group

Global media contact

Katarina Sallerfors

t: +44 20 7872 6300

Luke Charalambous

t: +44 20 7872 6300

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Shark Tank Star Joins Forces with Cybersecurity Visionary to Form New Industry Powerhouse

Apax
30th December 2021

Award-winning cybersecurity solutions providers Fishtech Group (“Fishtech”) and Herjavec Group (“Herjavec”) are pleased to announce their merger, backed by funds advised by Apax Partners LLP (the “Apax Funds”). The two innovative companies will operate as a single entity under a new brand to be announced in early 2022. The Apax Funds will hold a majority stake in the new company while Robert Herjavec, Founder & CEO of Herjavec Group and star of ABC’s Emmy award winning ratings giant “Shark Tank,” and Gary Fish, Founder and CEO of Fishtech Group, will each maintain significant equity in the new business.

The deal brings together the complementary strengths of both organizations, resulting in an industry powerhouse with a broad, holistic suite of best-in-class managed detection and response capabilities (MDR), professional services, and identity offerings with a global perspective to address enterprise customers’ increasingly complex information security needs. Joining the forces of Herjavec, a market leader in cloud and tech-enabled co-managed SIEM, with Fishtech, a market leader in enterprise MDR, will allow the new company to provide customers with unparalleled security and cloud expertise, driving security maturity as a competitive differentiator via advanced technology and services across the industry landscape.

At the time of the merger, the new organization brings together more than 600 security professionals operating out of 6 security operations centers (SOCs): Kansas City, Toronto, London, Ottawa, Arkansas, and Bangalore. The combined company will have one of the largest managed security engineering teams under one roof – entirely dedicated to delivering innovative solutions to enterprise clients.

Robert Herjavec, founder of Herjavec Group, will serve as Chief Executive Officer of the combined entity. Gary Fish, founder of Fishtech Group, will serve as Chairman of the Board. They will actively work to continue their track record of customer-focused success. The financial terms of the transaction (which is subject to applicable regulatory approvals) are not disclosed.

Founded in 2003 and acquired by the Apax Funds in February 2021, Herjavec has been recognized as one of the world’s most innovative cybersecurity firms and is currently ranked as the #1 MSSP in the world (Cyber Defense Magazine 2021 Top 100 MSSPs List). Fishtech was founded in 2016 to bring security to the cloud while identifying vulnerabilities and introducing next-generation solutions to help organizations minimize risk.

“We’re exceptionally proud of our results to date and even more excited about the growth to come,” said Gary Fish, CEO of Fishtech. “We’re honored that so many organizations trust Fishtech to be their managed solutions provider. With complementary offerings from Herjavec, we will transform the security industry globally.”

“We could not be more thrilled to join forces with industry pioneer Gary Fish, whom I have known for decades,” said Robert Herjavec, CEO of Herjavec Group. “We are very impressed by Fishtech’s MDR offerings and its proprietary platform built on Google Chronicle, which we consider highly differentiated. Jointly, we want to double down on the investment behind this market-leading solution and strengthen what are already deep partnerships. Having built one of the strongest tech teams in the industry and a leading portfolio of services, our customers will benefit from enhanced operations, getting stronger as we help accelerate their digital transformation.”

“We are truly excited by the combination of Herjavec and Fishtech,” said Rohan Haldea, Partner at Apax. “By putting together two best-in-class organizations, we are confident that the combined platform will become an undisputed leader in cybersecurity services in the enterprise segment and have an opportunity to redefine the market category.”

The Apax Funds, in partnership with the newly formed company’s management team, will help build on the companies’ impressive growth rates to date by enhancing international expansion efforts, continuing to invest behind differentiated technology and augmenting the talented team with additional threat intelligence and identity resources.

Polsinelli serves Fishtech Group as legal counsel and Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel to Herjavec Group and Apax Funds. Momentum Cyber is serving as financial advisor to Fishtech Group and BKD, LLP as tax advisor in connection with the transaction.

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IK Partners to acquire Truesec

IK Partners

IK Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that the IK IX Fund has signed an agreement to acquire Truesec Group AB (“Truesec” or “Group”) from Sobro, alongside management and employees who will be reinvesting. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Founded in 2005 by Marcus Murray and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Truesec is the leading independent cybersecurity service provider in Sweden. Its purpose is to prevent and reduce impact from cyberattacks, making a true difference to today’s connected society. This purpose, coupled with its strong culture and diverse opportunities, ensures that Truesec successfully attracts the best talent in the cybersecurity industry. At present, the Group employs approximately 180 individuals.

The Group has a loyal and diverse customer base comprising of predominantly enterprise clients who are spread out across various industries. It is the most natural and preferred cybersecurity partner to many organisations due to its broad range of competencies, highly skilled experts and long-standing customer relationships.

Since inception, the Group has enjoyed a continuous growth in revenues, strengthened its market-leading position as an independent cybersecurity service provider, been able to recruit the top cybersecurity experts and evolved from a nascent challenger to a best-in-class end-to-end cybersecurity partner. The next phase of the journey will focus on continuing to recruit the best talent within the cybersecurity industry, continuing to be the preferred cybersecurity partner to both Swedish and international companies and developing new and relevant services and capabilities while growing the Truesec position internationally. The Group will continue to be led by CEO Anna Averud and her team.

Anna Averud, CEO of Truesec, said: “We firmly believe that a partnership between Truesec and IK will form a solid basis for capturing value creation opportunities across several dimensions, specifically helping us to further solidify the Group’s market position in the Nordics as well as expand its presence outside current core markets.”

Marcus Murray, Founder of Truesec, said: “We’re delighted to have IK’s trust and support as we mark the beginning of Truesec’s journey to become an international leader in cybersecurity. The demand for our expertise and capabilities to prevent breach and minimise the impact from cybercrime has never been greater. With IK’s support, we are confident that we will become a stronger partner to our clients and be able to expand our international footprint to create world-class solutions to meet the global challenge of defending against cybercrime today and tomorrow.”

Alireza Etemad, Partner at IK Partners and Advisor to the IK IX Fund, said: “At IK, we pride ourselves on being ‘People-First Private Equity because it’s amazing what happens when you put people first. We discover new ways to grow together, better ways to build on success and we see possibilities everywhere. We feel that this ethos, together with our core values, aligns well with those of Truesec’s. The Group is a real success story and has experienced tremendous growth in a very short time. With plenty of opportunities to further expand, coupled with a very experienced management team, we look forward to a strong partnership with them and look forward to supercharging the next phase of their growth journey.”

David Stenlund Sager, Partner at Sobro, commented: “We are proud to have supported Truesec for the past three years as it has accelerated its growth and strengthened its position as the leading pure-play cybersecurity services provider in Sweden. It has been a pleasure working with the team and we wish both management and IK all the very best for the future.”

Completion of the transaction is subject to legal and regulatory approvals.

IK Partners
Maitland/AMO
James McFarlane
+44 (0) 7584 142665
jmcfarlane@maitland.co.uk / ik-maitland@maitland.co.uk

IK Partners

IK Partners (“IK”) is a European private equity firm focused on investments in the Benelux, DACH, France, Nordics and the UK. Since 1989, IK has raised more than €14 billion of capital and invested in over 155 European companies. IK supports companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects. For more information, visit www.ikpartners.com

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Truesec

Truesec (“the Group”) is a highly-regarded cybersecurity company focusing on protecting organisations and the society against cyber threats. Since the start in 2005, the Group’s various expert teams have delivered top-class solutions to customers in the private and public sector, in Sweden and globally. For more information, visit www.truesec.com

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Leading cybersecurity company Infradata continues European expansion as Nomios

IK Partners

THE NETHERLANDS, November 2nd 2021 –  Leading security and network service provider Infradata has changed its name to Nomios. Under the Nomios Group, all Infradata companies in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom can focus on further European expansion in the coming years.

The name change marks the transformation of the company. Infradata started 17 years ago as a network integrator, and since expanded to also become a cyber security expert. New offices and acquisitions resulted in international expansion. The company saw its turnover grow by 30% per year to 250 million euros and now has more than 500 employees worldwide, throughout twenty locations. It provides cybersecurity and network services to over 2,500 clients worldwide, including many large enterprises, tier-1 service providers, public institutions, datacenter and cloud providers. Nomios has longstanding strategic partnerships with the key vendors in the industry like Palo Alto Networks, Juniper Networks, F5 Networks, Cisco, Vectra AI, Fortinet, Cybereason, and others.

Nomios’ focus will remain the same: be a trusted partner in a collaborative approach with clients and vendors to create the best possible solutions and services when it comes to cybersecurity and network infrastructure. As the digitization of society and the economy has accelerated over the past years, those solutions and services have never been more important. Many of the company’s clients are part of the vital digital infrastructure and rely on Nomios to manage and monitor their networks.

Ad Scheepbouwer, the former CEO of KPN and TNT, among others, was appointed Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2019. “The growing demand for cybersecurity services has allowed the company to operate on an increasingly large scale in Europe. As Nomios Group, we are in a position to become the largest pan-European supplier of cybersecurity and network services,” says Scheepbouwer.

“Nomios plays a key role in many large scale data networks throughout Europe. The name change marks a new phase in our journey. As a relatively young company, we have experienced significant growth. We look forward to continuing our expansion as Nomios and to secure and connect our clients’ digital infrastructures,” says Nomios Group CEO Sébastien Kher.

Note to editors:

For more information, media can contact Richard Landman, Head of Digital Marketing at Nomios, Mob: +31 -624693070, Email: richard.landman@infradata.com. Also visit: www.nomios.com.

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IK Partners to invest in Pr0ph3cy Group to become a French Leader in Cybersecurity

IK Partners

During European Cybersecurity month, consulting company Silicom and e-learning SaaS platform Seela have announced their merger to create Pr0ph3cy Group (“Pr0ph3cy” or “the Group”), a provider of IT and cybersecurity services in France. Pr0ph3cy will serve large private groups and government agencies to provide solutions for their critical security needs and will offer an e-learning platform aimed at upskilling or reskilling IT, network and cyber professionals.

By anchoring the Start-up mindset with a well-established SME in the French ecosystem, Silicom and Seela will demonstrate with this new group their ambition to actively participate in the emergence of European industrial sovereignty.

The Group has signed an agreement with IK Partners (“IK”) who will acquire a significant minority stake in the Group alongside Arthur Bataille, who will retain control and management of the business.

The transaction was led by IK’s Development Capital team and is the first investment from the dedicated pool of Development Capital in the IK Small Cap III Fund, which held a final close at its hard cap of €1.2 billion earlier this year.

European Ambitions

IK, together with management, will further develop the Group through five key goals:

  • Become the French leader in securing technological products by mastering the design and integration of “Secure by Design” as well as the technical training for these products;
  • Consolidate the French cybersecurity ecosystem around its training solution to promote its technical and technological excellence internationally;
  • Recruit over 100 individuals in 2022 in France, Europe and Canada to support its clients in their growth strategies and in the securitisation of their digital products and services. This organic growth strategy could be accelerated by targeted acquisitions facilitated by its new financial partner IK;
  • Accelerate the technological shift of cybersecurity through Artificial Intelligence around SOC (Security Operation Centre) – the centre of operations focused on monitoring threats – and SIEM (Security Information Management System) – the monitoring tool used by analysts that includes software to monitor enterprise networks; and
  • Reinforce digital sovereignty and accelerate the upskilling of cyber professionals to safeguard jobs and the French economy in the digital field.

Arthur Bataille, Founder and CEO of Pr0ph3cy Group: “Pr0ph3cy is a vision, a concept around innovation and the evolution of the cybersecurity market in France and internationally. As the market continues to evolve it is a decisive moment in our development. While cyber issues gain dominance, the French government is aware of the importance of reinforcing the digital security of organisations. The time has come to invest with the goal to create and promote French and European champions. To this end, we must also foster employment and training of cyber jobs in the context of talent shortage.”

Pierre Gallix, Partner at IK Partners and Advisor to the IK Small Cap III Fund: “Pr0ph3cy benefits from tremendous potential in its two business lines. We have every confidence that Arthur and his team will actively contribute to the rise of the cybersecurity market and we are very happy to support him in the deployment of his strategy.”

Pr0ph3cy PR Contact:
Leslie Toledano
Bureau de presse Leslie Toledano
+33 (0) 6 10 20 79 60
contact@leslietoledano-pressoffice.com

IK Partners PR Contact:
Maitland/AMO
James McFarlane
+44 (0) 7584 142665
jmcfarlane@maitland.co.uk / ik-maitland@maitland.co.uk

IK Partners

IK Partners (“IK”, formerly IK Investment Partners) is a European private equity firm focused on investments in the Benelux, DACH, France, Nordics and the UK. Since 1989, IK has raised more than €14 billion of capital and invested in over 155 European companies. IK supports companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects. For more information, visit www.ikpartners.com

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Pr0ph3cy

The Group is composed of Silicom, a consulting service company expert in the security of infrastructure / cybersecurity founded almost 40 years ago, and Seela, an e-learning platform focused on cybersecurity founded in 2019 that contributes to the protection of organisations through the awareness and training of teams in case of cyber-attacks. With 280 employees, the group is managed by Arthur Bataille. For more information, please visit https://silicom.fr/fr and https://seela.io/

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EQT Private Equity invests in EC-Council, a global leader in cybersecurity training and certification

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EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Mid Market Asia III Fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has made a significant investment in EC-Council (the “Company”). EC-Council’s founder, Malaysian technopreneur Jay Bavisi, will retain a majority stake in the Company and remain as the Group Chief Executive Officer.

Established in 2001, EC-Council develops and provides proprietary cybersecurity training and certification programs for customers in more than 145 countries around the world, both directly and through more than 700 partners. The Company has experienced strong growth in recent years driven by a rising need to protect corporations against increasingly complex cyber threats and a widening gap in the supply and demand of digital talent in the cybersecurity industry. Today it has a global presence with offices and operations in the US, Asia and Europe, employing about 500 people worldwide.

EQT will support EC-Council in its next chapter by leveraging EQT’s experience developing cybersecurity companies, its global advisory network and in-house capabilities within digitalization and sustainability. To further support the Company on its next stage of growth, EQT is happy to announce that Andrew Wait, former President of Lynda.com and EF Englishtown and former SVP and general manager at Ancestry.com, will join EC-Council’s board of directors.

EC-Council’s training and certification programs help to equip students and professionals with both foundational and advanced skill sets required to thrive in the cybersecurity industry. The Company’s first and most well-known certification, the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), specializes in ethical hacking and provides students with an understanding of various cyber-attack vectors and preventative countermeasures and regularly ranks among the top ten certifications that are highly sought after by employers in the cybersecurity industry.

EC-Council programs set the cybersecurity bar globally and are trusted by seven of the top ten Fortune companies and 47 of the top 100 list. The Company is also supporting public organizations and governmental bodies, including the US Department of Defense (DoD), various agencies in the global intelligence community, NATO, and more than 2,000 of the world’s top universities, colleges and training companies.

Since its inception, EC-Council has grown into a platform that aims to not only educate and certify, but also to provide a holistic ecosystem for current and aspiring cybersecurity professionals worldwide. The Company now has dozens of certification programs worldwide designed to expand and advance skillsets cybersecurity professionals need. The Company’s EC-Council University, an accredited institution of higher learning in the US, provides certificate, undergraduate and postgraduate programs in cybersecurity.

Brian Chang, Partner, Head of Southeast Asia and Investment Advisor within the EQT Private Equity Advisory Team, said, “EQT Private Equity is excited to invest in EC-Council at this pivotal stage of the Company’s growth. We have been impressed with EC-Council’s development in this high-growth sector and its role in expanding the talent pool in the global cybersecurity industry. We see immediate opportunities to apply our digital skillset as well as our industry network and sector expertise to support EC-Council’s ambitious vision and growth plans. We look forward to partnering with Jay and his management team to develop its full potential going forward.” Jay Bavisi, Founder and CEO of EC-Council, said, “Over the past two decades, the entire EC-Council team has dedicated itself to the mitigation and remediation of the cyber plague that remains an ever-present challenge to organizations in all geographies and industries across the globe. We are excited to partner with one of the world’s largest and most highly respected private equity institutions, EQT, to further accelerate our growth and increase our positive impact to the global community. By expanding our cybersecurity product portfolio and increasing the accessibility of online cyber preparedness training and testing tools, we hope to accelerate the development of cyber talent worldwide while encouraging the participation of more diverse communities in this growing industry.”

Contact
EQT APAC media inquiries: EQTAsia@brunswickgroup.com, +852 9255-5136
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

For EC-Council: Dan Chmielewski, Madison Alexander PR, dchm@madisonalexanderpr.com, +1-949-231-2965; +1-714-832-8716
EC-Council Press Office, press@eccouncil.org

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EQT Private Equity sells Utimaco, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions

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  • EQT Private Equity to sell Utimaco, one of the global leading providers of mission-critical professional cybersecurity and data intelligence solutions for regulated critical infrastructures
  • Together with EQT, Utimaco has executed an impressive innovation, growth and M&A strategy, including five add-ons in the US, UK, Spain, and Germany and transformed into one of the leading integrated European cybersecurity champions with global reach
  • Under EQT’s ownership, Utimaco has close to tripled its revenues and is expected to generate more than EUR 100 million for the fiscal year of 2022

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Mid Market Europe fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has agreed to sell Utimaco Verwaltungs GmbH (“Utimaco” or the “Company”) to SGT Capital LLC (“SGT”), a global alternative asset manager with offices in Germany and Singapore.

Headquartered in Aachen, Germany, and Campbell, CA, US, Utimaco is the leading platform provider of trusted cybersecurity and compliance solutions and services. The Company provides on-premises and cloud-based hardware security modules, as well as key management solutions and data intelligence solutions for regulated critical infrastructures. Utimaco has more than 470 employees around the globe and with its focus on protecting data, identities and critical infrastructures against cyber-crime, the Company is a crucial force in contributing to making the world and societies a safer place.

Together with EQT Private Equity, Utimaco has executed an impressive innovation, growth and M&A strategy. In addition to strong organic growth, the Company has completed five strategic add-ons in the US, UK, Spain, and Germany and transformed into one of the global leading integrated European cybersecurity champions with strong capabilities in high-growth areas. Under EQT’s ownership, Utimaco has close to tripled its revenues, while maintaining its unique focus on R&D, innovation, and customer satisfaction.

Florian Funk, Partner within EQT Private Equity’s Advisory Team, said: “Utimaco plays a crucial role in fighting cyber-crime making the world a safer place and we are extremely proud of having supported Utimaco on its mission to create trust in the digital society, as cyber terrorism and data abuse is growing in complexity, sophistication and frequency. We would like to thank all employees for this exciting journey – We are convinced that Utimaco will continue its successful path with its new majority owner and are happy to stay invested as a minority owner.”

Stefan Auerbach, CEO of Utimaco, said: “In the last years, we have built a global platform leader for trusted cybersecurity solutions, providing the highest level of security and compliance to the world’s largest corporates and governments. With EQT’s support, we have been able to transform the business and accelerate growth by making substantial investments. The collaboration with the EQT team and the board has been fantastic, and we would like to thank you all for the great partnership and look forward to the next phase of growth together with SGT.”

Joseph Pacini, Co-Managing Partner of SGT Capital, said: “Utimaco is the clear market leader in global cybersecurity as well as data intelligence solutions and has executed an impressive innovation, growth and M&A strategy. We look forward to working with Stefan Auerbach and the entire Utimaco team as well as EQT Private Equity going forwards.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory conditions and approvals and is expected to close in Q4 2021. The parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction value. EQT Private Equity was advised by Moelis & Company (financial advisor), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (legal), PWC (financial, tax) and Strategy& (commercial).

Contact
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with more than EUR 67 billion in assets under management across 26 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 175,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

About Utimaco
Utimaco is a global platform provider of trusted Cybersecurity and Compliance solutions and services with headquarters in Aachen (Germany) and Campbell, CA (USA). UTIMACO develops on-premises and cloud-based hardware security modules and key management solutions as well as data intelligence solutions for regulated critical infrastructures. Utimaco is one of the world’s leading manufacturers in both of these market segments. 470+ employees around the globe create innovative solutions and services to protect data, identities and communication networks with responsibility for global customers and citizens. Customers and partners in many different industries value the reliability and long-term investment security of Utimaco’s high-security products and solutions.

More info: https://www.utimaco.com/

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