INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The ongoing shift of emphasis in the cyber security industry from defensive, reactive actions towards pro-active detection and response has
fueled veteran Finnish security company F-Secure acquisition of MWR InfoSecurity, announced today.
F-Secure is paying £80
million(€91,6M) in cash to purchase all outstanding shares in MWR InfoSecurity, funding the transaction with its own cash reserves and a
five-year bank loan.In addition, the terms include an earn-out of a maximum of £25M (€28,6M) in cash to be paid after 18 months of the
completion subject to the achievement of agreed business targets for the period from1 July, 2018, until31 December, 2019.
F-Secure says the
acquisition will enable it to offer its customers access to the more offensive skillsets needed to combat targeted attacks — specialist
capabilities that most companies are not likely to have in-house.
It points to detection and response solutions (EDR) and managed detection
and response services (MDR) as one of the fastest growing market segments in the security space
And says the acquisition makes it the largest European single source ofcyber security services and detection and response solutions,
positioning it to cater to both mid-market companies and large enterprises globally.
&The acquisition brings MWR InfoSecurity
industry-renowned technologies to F-Secure making our detection and response offering unrivaled,& said F-Secure CEOSamu Konttinen in a
&Their threat hunting platform (Countercept) is one of the most advanced in the market and is an excellent complement to our existing
technologies.&
As well as having experts in-house skilled in offensive techniques, MWR InfoSecurity — a UK company that was founded in
2002 — is well known for its technical expertise and research.
And F-Secure says it expects learnings from major incident investigations
and targeted attack simulations to provide insights that can be fed directly back into product creation, as well as be used to upgrade its
offerings to reflect the latest security threats.
For years, MWR has been a company with world-class technical research
Just take a look at some of the @MWRLabs publications: https://t.co/ntfBHqSFgd
— Mikko Hypponen (@mikko) June 18, 2018
MWR InfoSecurity
also has a suite of managed phishing protection services (phishd) which F-Secure also says will also enhance its offering.
The acquisition
is expected to close in early July, and will add around 400 employees to F-Secure headcount
MWR InfoSecurity main offices are located in theUK, the US,South AfricaandSingapore.
&I&m thrilled to welcome MWR InfoSecurity employees to
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,& added Konttinen
&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 growth.&
&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,& added MWR InfoSecurity CEO,Ian Shaw,
who will be joining F-Secure leadership team after the transaction closes
&We see this approach thriving atF-Secure, and we look forward to working together so that we can break new ground in the cyber security
industry.&
The companies will be holding a webcast to provide more detail on the news for investors and analysts later today, at13:30 EEST.
