Rumours emerge of Check Point acquisition
Security giant linked to possible purchase of SurfControl
The channel rumour mill is going into overdrive again concerning the possible acquisition of SurfControl by security giant Check Point.
The acquisition rumours started before Christmas when SurfControl admitted in a statement that it had received an ‘unsolicited approach’ from an unidentified company.
Harnish Patel, senior vice president EMEA at SurfControl, told CRN last week: “I can only refer you to the statement we made on 7 December to the Stock Exchange.”
The statement read: “On 7 December 2006, SurfControl announced that it has received an unsolicited approach in relation to a potential offer for the company. Discussions in relation to the potential offer are continuing. These discussions may or may not lead to an offer being made for the company in due course.
“SurfControl is not providing any further information in relation to these discussions at this time.”
One industry watcher who asked to remain anonymous said: “[The acquisition] would make sense because Check Point does not own any intrusion prevention technology and the two companies would fit well together.”
A Check Point representative told CRN: “We would never comment on any potential acquisition strategy.”
Mukesh Gupta, managing director of security distributor e92plus, which recently ended its relationship with SurfControl, said the deal would make sense for both the vendors.
“It would probably be a good move for Check Point because it doesn’t have a product in that space and SurfControl’s product set would complement the gateway technology that Check Point has,” he said.
“Also, for SurfControl it would be a good move because it would help it get into the enterprise space. If an acquisition doesn’t go ahead with Check Point it could go ahead with another firm.”