Helsinki-headquartered cybersecurity company F-Secure has agreed to buy out privately held MWR InfoSecurity, making it the largest European “single source” of cybersecurity, detection and response services, the company announced today.
The acquisition, expected to be completed in early July 2018, will cost F-Secure £80 million subject to cash, debt and working capital adjustments. It is being financed by a combination of cash reserves and bank financing.
MWR InfoSecurity, which has some 400 staff, is one of the world’s largest privately held cybersecurity companies serving global enterprises. It has offices in UK, the US, South Africa and Singapore and generated revenues of £27.6 million in the last financial year.
All of its staff will join F-Secure and all off both companies’ offices will remain open, F-Secure confirmed to Computer Business Review.
The company, founded in 2003 in the UK, has a roster of clients that includes Dow Jones, NASDAQ, FTSE 100 companies and a number of government agencies. MWR runs the annual HackFu conference and among its recent papers lists a successful attack on Apple’s Safari browser at this year’s Pwn2Own competition.
“Their threat hunting platform (Countercept) is one of the most advanced in the market and is an excellent complement to our existing technologies,” said F-Secure CEO Samu Konttinen.
He added: “I’m thrilled to welcome MWR InfoSecurity’s employees to F-Secure. With their vast experience and hundreds of experts performing cyber security services on four continents, we will have unparalleled visibility into real-life cyber attacks 24/7.”
“This enables us to detect indicators across an incredible breadth of attacks so we can protect our customers effectively. As most companies currently lack these capabilities, this represents a significant opportunity to accelerate F-Secure’s growth.”
MWR InfoSecurity CEO Ian Shaw will join F-Secure’s Leadership Team after the deal closes. He said in a release: “We’ve always relied on research-driven innovations executed by the best people and technology. This approach has earned MWR InfoSecurity the trust of some of the largest organizations in the world.”
He added: “We see this approach thriving at F-Secure, and we look forward to working together so that we can break new ground in the cyber security industry.”
Nasdaq-listed F-Secure has some 1,200 employees globally and offices in 23 locations. It generated revenues of £148 million last year.
