France's Thales debuts in app security with $3.6bn Imperva deal

Thoma Bravo hands over the keys of Imperva to the French security vendor

Thales has struck a deal with private equity firm Thoma Bravo to buy US data and application cybersecurity company Imperva for $3.6bn (£2.8bn).

The Paris-based vendor claims the acquisition takes its cybersecurity business to the next level with its entry into the application security market, allowing it to generate more than €2.4bn (£2.064bn) revenues.

The deal is expected to close at the start of 2024 following completion of customary antitrust and regulatory approvals.

Thales CEO and chairman Patrice Caine said the buy marks a major milestone in Thales' cybersecurity strategy.

"With this acquisition, we are seizing a unique opportunity to accelerate our cybersecurity capabilities and are taking an important step towards our ambition to build a world-class global cybersecurity integrated player, providing a comprehensive portfolio of products and services," he said.

"We have tremendous respect for Imperva's innovative application and data security offerings."

What does Imperva bring?

Imperva was acquired by Thoma Bravo in 2019 for $2.1bn and made three acquisitions (Distil Networks, jSonar and CloudVector) whilst under the ownership of the software investment giant.

Headquartered in San Mateo, California, the company has a global footprint in the Americas, Asia Pacific and EMEA, and monitors threats across 180 countries.

A marriage between Thales and Imperva will add $500m (£389m) of revenue for the French vendor and expand its data and application security offering, it claims.

Combining the duo's operations will create a global cybersecurity portfolio structured around identity (Thales), data security (Thales and Imperva), and application security (Imperva).

Thales to regroup civil cyber activities

Thales added it plans to regroup as of January 1 2024 all its civil cyber activities (currently split between its digital identity & security (DIS) and defence & security operating segments) within DIS.

Moreover, following the acquisitions of Imperva and Tesserent, global cybersecurity products,and services will represent 44 per cent of Thales digital identity & security segment sales in 2024 (pro forma), addressing a $36bn total addressable market.