€217 million bid launched for encryption specialist.
Security light-heavyweight
Sophos
has issued official notice of its intention to buy German encryption firm
Utimaco
, in a share deal worth €217 million (over $340 million US).
Utimaco
produces a range of encryption products under the brand name
SafeGuard
, including solutions for protecting data on disk and in transit from unauthorised access, as well as associated management tools, policy enforcement systems and key and signature technology. The company was founded in 1983, is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and has a global network of subsidiaries.
Sophos
hopes to integrate the
SafeGuard
product line into its security lineup while maintaining the branding and recognition value, and has signed on as a reseller in advance of the prospective buyout.
The move is the latest in a series of major investments which has seen
Sophos
expand its security coverage well beyond its origins in anti-malware, to include anti-spam (with the purchase of Canadian email specialist
PureMessage
almost five years ago), and network access control (with the acquisition of US-based NAC specialist
Endforce
in early 2007). It seems likely that
Utimaco
‘s encryption technology will eventually be rolled into
Sophos
‘s flagship corporate product lines, in a similar manner to previous assimilations.
The value of the deal, expected to complete in October but announced well in advance under Germany’s financial regulations, is considerably higher than the current share price of the firm, and also a good way above
Sophos
‘ stated cash assets, recently accounted at a shade under $140 million, implying that some kind of investment capital may be obtained. No further details of the exact workings of the deal are expected until the full purchase stage.
Sophos
remains a privately owned firm, after recent moves to float were shelved due to inhospitable market conditions.
Full details of the bid announcement are in a press release
here
.
Posted on 28 July 2008 by
Virus Bulletin
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