Accumuli owner makes cunning bid for Fox-IT

NCC says Dutch acquisition moves it a 'substantial step' towards its goal of becoming leading global cybersecurity player

London-listed IT services firm NCC Group says it has leapt closer to its goal of being the "leading player" in the global cybersecurity market after following up its purchase of Accumuli with a Dutch acquisition.

NCC is stumping up €133.25m (£93.5m) to acquire Delft-based Fox, which offers cybersecurity products, managed security services, advanced threat intelligence, forensics and incident response, ‘sovereign cryptography' and professional services.

The announcement comes eight months after NCC gobbled up UK managed security services outfit Accumuli for £55m.

NCC chief executive Rob Cotton said the Fox buy comes at a time when organisations globally are "only now beginning to appreciate that they need to be proactive, not reactive, in dealing with cybersecurity".

"The addition of Fox, with its quality management team, 250 technical security experts and personnel and high assurance cryptology and forensics capabilities, enables us to take a further substantial step towards our aspiration of becoming the leading player in the expanding global cyber security market," Cotton said.

Specialising in providing Escrow, assurance and domain services, NCC Group saw turnover in its fiscal first half ending 30 September rise by 48 per cent year on year to £58.5m.

With a footprint in government security departments and global organisations, Fox has a complementary client base to that of NCC, creating multiple cross-sell opportunities, NCC claimed.

Giving an insight into where it will play in the market, NCC claimed cybersecurity is moving beyond traditional security information and event management towards threat intelligence and ‘big data' security analytics.

The acquisition is set to be funded by a £126.3m firm placing and placing and open offer and a new multibank facility comprising a £80m revolving credit facility and a £30m term loan.

Some €108.25 is set to be paid in cash on completion, with a further €10m in cash and €2.5m in shares to be dished out 12 and 24 months later.