Top 10 cybersecurity acquisitions so far this year
CRN ranks 2017's biggest acquisitions in cybersecurity
Acquisition activity in the cybersecurity space is set to outpace both 2015 and 2016 this year, according to Momentum Partners.
Momentum research found that M&A activity in the first half of this year totalled $5.2bn (£4bn) across 69 transactions.
The majority of the total spent - $3.6bn - came from the three highest transactions alone.
Based on this research, CRN has ranked the top 10 cybersecurity acquisitions of 2017 so far.
10. Hexadite - acquired by Microsoft for $100m, June
Microsoft announced the acquisition of incident investigation and remediation start-up Hexadite in June.
Founded in 2014, Hexadite had previously raised $10.5m in venture capital funding. The vendor is headquartered in Boston and also has a team of researchers in Israel.
Microsoft said the acquisition will bolster its work in helping commercial customers detect responses in Windows 10 - specifically with the addition of Hexadite's end-point security automated remediation.
Microsoft did not reveal details of the transaction, but is widely reported to have paid $100m.
9. LightCyber - acquired by Palo Alto Networks for $105m, February
Palo Alto Networks acquired behavioural analytics vendor LightCyber for $105m.
LightCyber uses machine learning to build knowledge of how users and devices operate on a network, which allows it to detect changes in behaviour when attacks occur.
Founded in 2012, LightCyber launched into Europe last year, opening offices in Munich and Kent.
The vendor has raised $32m in total, with investors including Check Point and Cato Networks founder Shlomo Kramer.
8. Open Systems AG - acquired by EQT partners for $120m, June
The only channel firm in this list, Switzerland-based managed security services provider (MSSP) Open Systems AG was acquired by private equity investor EQT Mid Market Europe Fund.
Founded in 1990, Open Systems began life as a security integrator before morphing into an MSSP specialising in SD-WAN, network security, web and application security, and incident response.
Open Systems currently operates in over 180 countries and has operations centres in Zurich and Sydney, as well as an office in New York.
7. Invincea - acquired by Sophos for $120m, February
Network and end-point security vendor Sophos snapped up machine-learning start-up Invincea in February for $100m, with a potential $20m to be added dependent on billings growth in the first year of ownership.
Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Virginia, Invincea develops next-generation end-point security and has been particularly prominent in the government, healthcare and financial services spaces.
In its last 12 months as an independent company Invincea filed revenue of $13.4m, with a pre-tax loss of $11.8m.
Sophos CEO Kris Hagermantold CRN that Invincea is set to be integrated into the wider Sophos portfolio by the end of the year.
6. Guavus - acquired by Thales for $215m, April
Big data analytics vendor Guavus was snapped up by Paris stock exchange-listed giant Thales for $215m in April.
The Aerospace and defence specialist said that Guavus will open up opportunities in markets including cybersecurity, infrastructure monitoring, network, and telecommunications.
At the time of the acquisition, Guavus was expecting to turn over $30m in its fiscal year.
Founded in 2006, the firm is headquartered in Silicon Valley and employees 250 people, some of whom are based in its Canadian and Indian offices. Its customers include AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.
The acquisition is expected to be completed in Q3.
Click through to page two to see the deals ranked in places five to one
Top 10 cybersecurity acquisitions so far this year
CRN ranks 2017's biggest acquisitions in cybersecurity
5. Sotera - acquired by KeyW for $235m, April
Security specialist KeyW acquired security and data analytics solutions provider Sotera in a deal worth $235m.
Sotera provides enterprise IT services predominantly to the security and intelligence industry, focusing on cybersecurity, intelligence and analytics.
Headquartered in Virginia, Sotera has 1,100 employees and is expected to take the revenue of the newly combined company up to around $535m this year.
KeyW moved into the channel in 2015, launching its detection and response vendor Hexis into the UK with Alpha Gen Exclusive Networks, before selling the technology to WatchGuard last year.
4. BlueCat - acquired by MDP for $400m, February
Enterprise DNS provider BlueCat Networks was acquired by Chicago-based private equity house Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP) in February for $400m.
Founded in 2001, BlueCat provides software-defined network infrastructure solutions as well as products around security, cloud and virtualisation.
MDP's investment will be partially used to launch BlueCat's new cloud-based security solution.
BlueCat is currently distributed in the UK by Westcon.
3. Veracode - acquired by CA Technologies for $614m, March
Enterprise software giant CA Technologies acquired application security start-up Veracode for $614m in March.
Founded in 2006 with offices in Massachusetts and London, Veracode provides a secure dev-ops platform in an as-a-service model. Prior to the acquisition it had raised $114m in venture capital funding.
CA said the Veracode acquisition will bridge the gap between its dev-ops business and its security business, as well as adding to its existing SaaS offering.
2. LANDesk - acquired by Clearlake Capital/Heat Software for >$1.1bn, January
Private equity house Clearlake Capital played matchmaker at the start of the year, acquiring security management vendor LANDesk and merging it with Heat Software - which in turn was formed when Lumension Software merged with FrontRange. The acquisition of Heat was reportedly worth over $1.1bn.
LANDesk had previously been owned by Thoma Brava - the company behind McAfee, Riverbed and SolarWinds.
The newly formed company - Ivanti - has 1,600 employees globally and provides a unified end-point management platform.
1. Ixia - acquired by Keysight Technologies for $1.6bn, April
Test hardware and software manufacturer Keysight Technologies acquired security and visibility vendor Ixia in a $1.6bn deal.
Ixia itself was traditionally a manufacturer of network testing equipment, before telling CRN of plans to move away from this area and focus on the cybersecurity space.
Ixia counts the top 15 network manufacturers globally, as well as 77 of the Fortune 100, among its customer base.
In the UK, Ixia has channel partners including Phoenix Datacom and Axial Systems.