We analyse the acquisition by Sonae IM in the cybersecurity sector from a corporate finance perspective. The transaction, the amount of which is unknown, took place on 7/06/2018.
We analyse the acquisition by Sonae IM in the cybersecurity sector from a corporate finance perspective. The transaction, the amount of which is unknown, took place on 7/06/2018.
Sonae IM
Sonae IM, based in Porto, Portugal, is the corporate arm of Sonae (retail and telecommunications group), with the objective of managing and building a portfolio of world-class technology-based businesses linked to retail, telecommunications and cybersecurity.
Its main areas of focus are: Business Analytics solutions, retail mobility solutions, in-store technologies, AR solutions, B2B E-Commerce. It operates in the European Union, Israel and Latin America. And its typical stage of investment is: growth stage companies, typically Series A and above and established companies.
Since the official launch of Sonae IM at the end of 2015, the company invested in InovRetail (demand forecasting for retailers), StyleSage (predictive fashion technology analytics) and Sysvalue (aggregated cyber security for s21sec). In addition, Sonae IM was involved in the acquisition of Novo Banco's stakes in 3 funds managed by ES Ventures and launched Bright Pixel (company building studio).
Analysis of the operation
Sonae IM, acquired on 7/06/2018 the Spanish company, based in Zamudio, Nextel, an IT Engineering and Consulting company specialised in information security and telecommunications services management.
The agreement between Sonae IM and Nextel will see the merger of two of the leading firms in the Spanish security sector. The resulting company will be the largest pure player (online, they do not have a physical shop) in cybersecurity in Spain and Portugal, both in terms of turnover and number of experts on staff. The new entity, whose brand strategy will be announced in the coming months, will have more than 400 cybersecurity specialists, as well as a client portfolio that includes most of the listed and large companies in both countries. Nextel adds to the new company more than 30 years of references as a leader in security solutions integration services, auditing, pentesting and security consulting.
In addition, following the transaction, Sonae IM will merge Nextel with S21sec, a portfolio company, thanks to its outstanding performance in 2017, which saw growth of 25%.
Other cybersecurity operations
| Company | Description | Country | Amount | Date |
| Cylance | Cylance is a global provider of cyber security products and services to solve security problems.
| USA. USA. | $120M | 20/06/2018 |
| CrowdStrike | CrowdStrike is a pioneering cyber security technology firm offering state-of-the-art endpoint protection and services. | USA. USA. | $200M | 19/06/2018 |
| Claroty | Claroty is a cybersecurity software company focused on the protection of industrial control networks. | USA. USA. | $60M | 11/06/2018 |
| IronNet Cybersecurity | IronNet Cybersecurity is a network security company that bridges the gap between traditional cyber security approaches and the evolving threat. | USA. USA. | $78M | 03/05/2018 |
| Onapsis Inc. | Onapsis is the pioneer in cyber security and compliance solutions for cloud and on-premise ERP and business-critical applications. | USA. USA. | $31M | 13/04/2018 |