Clearswift snapped up by investment firm

Web and email security player gets acquired and accrues three new directors

Web and email security vendor Clearswift has been snapped up by investment firm Lyceum Capital and welcomed several new faces onto its board of directors.

Reading-based Clearswift said the deal will allow it to ramp up its presence in a number of key verticals and geographies, as well as broaden out its security software portfolio.

It follows on from the announcement back in April about the vendor severing ties with its only distributor Arrow ECS in order to adopt a single-tier channel model.

Clearswift employs around 170 staff and operates in the email and web gateway subsector of the software security market, which was recently valued at £2.6bn annually by analyst Ovum.

Through the buyout, estimated to be in the region of £25-to-£30m, Lyceum has acquired a majority stake in the firm. It has also installed its co-founder, Jeremy Hand, and one of the company's partners, David Harland, as members of its executive board.

Martin Leuw, former chief executive IRIS Software has also been appointed as the firm's chairman.

As well as investing in Clearswift, Lyceum has also recently acquired service provider Adapt in September for £30m and cloud-based accounting software vendor Access for £80m.

Hand said the acquisition was the first of many it is planning, as part of Clearswift's growth strategy.

"With an already strong management team, bolstered by the arrival of Martin and our strategic, operational and financial input, we are expecting Clearswift to continue with its strong organic growth supplemented with target acquisitions," said Hand.

Richard Turner, chief executive of Clearswift, added: "We are delighted to have the backing of Lyceum Capital to support the next phase of our ambitious growth plans."