April 2024 proved to be a blockbuster month for cybersecurity merger and acquisition (M&A) deals, with announcements involving several major players in the field.
The most high-profile of these was AI cybersecurity specialist Darktrace reaching an agreement to be sold for $5.3bn to private equity giant Thoma Bravo. This announcement came after a previous attempt by the private equity firm to buy the UK-based company fell through in September 2022.
Another significant announcement in was security awareness training provider KnowBe4’s agreement to expand its portfolio with the purchase of email security firm Egress.
Veracode Acquires Longbow Security to Boost Cloud Offerings
Application risk management firm Veracode announced on April 1 that it had acquired Longbow Security, which provides a centralized view of risk for cloud assets and applications. Veracode will integrate this capability into its offering, enabling security teams to discover cloud and application assets quickly and easily assess their threat exposure using automated issue investigation and root cause analysis. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
OPSWAT Buys Online Learning Community CIP Cyber
On April 2, critical infrastructure protection cybersecurity (CIP) solutions specialist OPSWAT announced the acquisition of CIP Cyber for an undisclosed fee. This deal will integrate OPSWAT’s training platform OPSWAT Academy with CIP Cyber’s online learning community to deliver training to cybersecurity professionals worldwide, encompassing a total of 31 certification courses covering IT and OT.
Entrust Completes Onfido Purchase
Identity and payment security provider Entrust completed its acquisition of Onfido, which specializes in identity verification. Announced on April 9, the deal will see Entrust leverage Onfido’s solutions across its portfolio, including its biometrics and AI capabilities. Prior to the acquisition, Onfido had over $140m in annual revenue and more than 500 employees. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Wiz Buys Gem Security to Complete Second Acquisition
Cloud security specialist Wiz announced the acquisition of New York-based startup Gem Security on April 10 for a reported price of $350m in cash. This is Wiz’s second acquisition since its inception in 2020 following the purchase of Raftt in December 2023. Gem’s cloud detection and response solution will now be added into Wiz’s Cloud Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP), and all its employees will be joining Wiz.
Zscaler Reaches Agreement to Acquire Airgap Networks
On April 11, Zscaler announced its intention to acquire Airgap Networks, which provides agentless segmentation for enterprise IT and OT environments. The deal is designed to advance Zscaler’s focus on zero trust by helping customers restrict attackers’ lateral movement and containing them once they have been compromised. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Commvault Acquires Appranix to Boost Incident Response Offerings
Cloud cyber resilience specialist Commvault announced the acquisition of Appranix on April 16. The transaction is designed to enhance Commvault’s ability to help enterprises recover following an outage or cyber-attack by leveraging Appranix’s automated cloud-native rebuild capabilities. The transaction fee was undisclosed.
BeyondTrust Reaches Definitive Agreement to Acquire Entitle
Identity and access security vendor BeyondTrust announced a definitive agreement to acquire Entitle, a privilege management solution. Entitle’s tool became immediately available to all BeyondTrust customers following the announcement on April 16, enabling comprehensive permissions and entitlements management across their cloud and SaaS platforms. The acquisition includes all Entitle products, employees, customers, partners, assets, and intellectual property. Further terms were not disclosed.
Armis Acquires Silk Security for $150m
On April 17, asset intelligence cybersecurity company Armis announced the acquisition of Silk Security to provide a consolidated view of security findings for teams. The Silk Platform will be used in combination with Armis’ Centrix AI-based vulnerability prioritization and remediation technology for this purpose. The transaction is worth $150m.
Veeam Expands Ransomware Support with Coverware Acquisition
Veeam announced on April 23 that it had acquired Coveware, a cyber-extortion incident response provider, as the firm looks to strengthen its ransomware resiliency offerings. Select Coveware will be incorporated into several Veeam solutions, including Veeam Data Platform and the Veeam Cyber Secure Platform. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
KnowBe4 Enters Definitive Agreement to Acquire Egress
Security awareness training company KnowBe4 announced a definitive agreement to acquire Egress on April 24. The deal will see Egress’ AI-enabled email security tools incorporated into a single platform created by KnowBe4, which aggregates threat intelligence dynamically, offering AI-based email security and training that is automatically tailored relative to risk. The transaction is expected to close in the coming months subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Further terms were not disclosed.
Thoma Bravo Agrees to Buy Darktrace for $5.3bn
UK-based AI cybersecurity company Darktrace announced it had reached an agreement to be sold to Thoma Bravo in a transaction worth $5.3bn on April 26. It is the latest in a string of high-profile cybersecurity acquisitions by US private equity giant Thoma Bravo, which said it intends to support the continued growth of Darktrace as an independent business headquartered in the UK. It is intended that the acquisition will be implemented by way of a Court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement, with each Darktrace shareholder entitled to receive $7.75 in cash for each Darktrace share.