Spain’s Panda Security, an endpoint protection specialist that turned 30 this year, is being snapped up by the US’s WatchGuard Technologies under a deal agreed today.
Bilbao-based Panda Security, founded in 1990, was once the world’s fourth-largest antivirus firm. It has continued to be highly rated for its technology. With approximately 500 employees, it is one of Spain’s largest tech firms.
Terms were not disclosed, but Spain’s El Pais suggests the was on the market for the €250 million region. Panda reported revenues of circa €60 million in 2018.
The company recently launched a threat hunting service available for direct enterprise consumption and for Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs).
Private equity-backed WatchGuard, based in Seattle, offers VPNs and other security services for industry verticals including retail, education, finance and healthcare.
Integration of the two firms’ product suites, customers and partners will create a “powerful security platform bridging the network and user perimeter” they said.
The companies’ security tools will be offered “under a single brand” WatchGuard said.
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“In the short term, the acquisition of Panda Security makes best-in-class endpoint detection and response, threat hunting, endpoint AV, email security, patching, and data compliance and encryption accessible to our customer base through a trusted vendor and their IT solution provider of choice,” said WatchGuard CEO Prakash Panjwani.
He added: ““Longer term, our customers and partners will enjoy the additional benefits that come from these solutions being tightly integrated with [Watchguard]”.
The deal is expected to close in Q2. Terms were not disclosed. It is the first acquisition by WatchGuard since its January 2018 buyout of Percipient Networks. WatchGuard claims to have 10,000 distributors and over 80,000 business customers.
