EQT buys majority share in Swiss cybersecurity biz Acronis
(2024/08/07)
- Reference: 1723025189
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/08/07/eqt_buys_shares_acronis/
- Source link:
Acronis, the Swiss disaster recovery turned cybersecurity firm and catch-all for managed service providers, has been majority acquired by Europe’s largest private equity firm, EQT.
"We are thrilled to have EQT as a major shareholder to support our strategic expansion and share our vision for growth," [1]enthused Acronis's CEO, Ezequiel Steiner.
"We would like to thank our existing investors for their support to date and are pleased that many will remain invested as we move forward," he added.
[2]
Some of those remaining investors include funds and accounts managed by CVC, Springcoast and BlackRock Private Equity Partners.
[3]
[4]
Acronis told The Register that in the transaction with EQT, it was valued above its last growth funding round in 2022. That [5]number is estimated at $3.5 billion.
The exact value of the deal was not disclosed, nor was the size of the chunk soon to be owned by EQT. What is known is that EQT expects the transaction to close in Q1 or Q2 2025, pending customary regulatory approvals.
[6]Micro Focus bought by Canada's OpenText for $6b
[7]Sweden's Evroc going full Viking with Euro cloud to raid US providers
[8]Micro Focus offloads Linux-wrangler SUSE for a cool $2.5bn
[9]Acronis downplays intrusion after 12GB trove leaks online
Founders Serg Bell and Stanislav Protassov will keep a material stake in the company, although Bell took to his [10]LinkedIn account to share the news that the agreement will allow him, and Protassov, to devote more time to its AI infused research and educational tool, Constructor Tech Platform.
The Reg was told Bell will remain on the Board of Directors. We've asked about Protassov, but that information was not disclosed.
[11]
The purchase reflects the increasing trend of private equity firms investing heavily in technology companies.
EQT also [12]bought provider of enterprise-grade open-source solutions SUSE in 2018 for $2.5 billion. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://eqtgroup.com/news/2024/eqt-to-acquire-a-majority-stake-in-acronis-a-leading-cybersecurity-and-data-protection-platform-for-managed-service-providers-and-corporate-it-departments/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZrOaLOw@hKS-jz6zf6tCbgAAABM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZrOaLOw@hKS-jz6zf6tCbgAAABM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZrOaLOw@hKS-jz6zf6tCbgAAABM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://tracxn.com/d/companies/acronis/__cS8IwgedtXThy5molH87tzY3-SN3g84rtnEcNcIEXq0/funding-and-investors#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20valuation%20of,as%20on%20Jul%2028%2C%202022.
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/26/opentext_micro_focus/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/07/swedens_evroc_cloud_eu/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2018/07/02/linux_makes_suse_sold_for_a_cool_2535bn/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/10/acronis_data_breach_details/
[10] https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7226853456622313473/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZrOaLOw@hKS-jz6zf6tCbgAAABM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2018/07/02/linux_makes_suse_sold_for_a_cool_2535bn/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
"We are thrilled to have EQT as a major shareholder to support our strategic expansion and share our vision for growth," [1]enthused Acronis's CEO, Ezequiel Steiner.
"We would like to thank our existing investors for their support to date and are pleased that many will remain invested as we move forward," he added.
[2]
Some of those remaining investors include funds and accounts managed by CVC, Springcoast and BlackRock Private Equity Partners.
[3]
[4]
Acronis told The Register that in the transaction with EQT, it was valued above its last growth funding round in 2022. That [5]number is estimated at $3.5 billion.
The exact value of the deal was not disclosed, nor was the size of the chunk soon to be owned by EQT. What is known is that EQT expects the transaction to close in Q1 or Q2 2025, pending customary regulatory approvals.
[6]Micro Focus bought by Canada's OpenText for $6b
[7]Sweden's Evroc going full Viking with Euro cloud to raid US providers
[8]Micro Focus offloads Linux-wrangler SUSE for a cool $2.5bn
[9]Acronis downplays intrusion after 12GB trove leaks online
Founders Serg Bell and Stanislav Protassov will keep a material stake in the company, although Bell took to his [10]LinkedIn account to share the news that the agreement will allow him, and Protassov, to devote more time to its AI infused research and educational tool, Constructor Tech Platform.
The Reg was told Bell will remain on the Board of Directors. We've asked about Protassov, but that information was not disclosed.
[11]
The purchase reflects the increasing trend of private equity firms investing heavily in technology companies.
EQT also [12]bought provider of enterprise-grade open-source solutions SUSE in 2018 for $2.5 billion. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://eqtgroup.com/news/2024/eqt-to-acquire-a-majority-stake-in-acronis-a-leading-cybersecurity-and-data-protection-platform-for-managed-service-providers-and-corporate-it-departments/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZrOaLOw@hKS-jz6zf6tCbgAAABM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZrOaLOw@hKS-jz6zf6tCbgAAABM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZrOaLOw@hKS-jz6zf6tCbgAAABM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://tracxn.com/d/companies/acronis/__cS8IwgedtXThy5molH87tzY3-SN3g84rtnEcNcIEXq0/funding-and-investors#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20valuation%20of,as%20on%20Jul%2028%2C%202022.
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/26/opentext_micro_focus/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/07/swedens_evroc_cloud_eu/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2018/07/02/linux_makes_suse_sold_for_a_cool_2535bn/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/10/acronis_data_breach_details/
[10] https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7226853456622313473/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZrOaLOw@hKS-jz6zf6tCbgAAABM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2018/07/02/linux_makes_suse_sold_for_a_cool_2535bn/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Acronis the cybersecurity firm ..
Anonymous Coward
“over 5.5 million home users and 500,000 companies, including 100% of the Fortune 1,000, trust Acronis” [1]ref
Cyber security companies with full access to virtually every desktop on the planet. One wonders why the spooks aren't already tempted to use it for nefarious backdoor purposes ;)
[1] https://www.linkedin.com/company/acronis
Pirate equity is where firms go to die
While the announcements are always optimistic, history shows that when a technology firm is acquired by pirate equity, it means that they are in decline, expected to decline further, and are just cashing out. PE firms are notorious for selling assets, taking on huge debt, taking huge "management fees" for themselves, laying off employees with abandon, raising prices, and letting product quality go to hell or worse. And making money in the process. Has Acronis begun its decline already or is this really expected to be a rare exception to the pattern? Or are European PE firms less swashbucking than the American ones?