Blackstone has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Accuvant, a provider of information security and services and a current portfolio company of Sverica International. Sverica International, which first invested in Accuvant in July 2008, will invest alongside Blackstone in the transaction. Accuvant management will also invest in the transaction.
Accuvant provides its enterprise customers with security software and hardware manufactured by its best-in-class technology partners. The company’s professional services arm offers enterprise security program design, enterprise assessments, incident response and remediation, PCI audit services, and IT compliance policy development and implementation. Since 2002, more than 4,500 organizations, including half of the Fortune 100 and 800 federal, state and local entities, have utilized Accuvant for their security needs. The company is headquartered in Denver and operates out of 35 additional locations in the US plus one international office in Toronto (www.accuvant.com).
Blackstone’s investment will be used by Accuvant to accelerate its pace of expansion and enable the management team to deploy additional capital and resources for a broader roll-out of its product- and service-based solution offerings.
Accuvant is one of several tech investments that Blackstone’s private equity funds have made in the technology sector over the last twelve months. Other recent investments include: Pactera Technology International Ltd, China’s largest IT outsourcing company; and Kronos, a global provider of workforce management software and services. Separately, Blackstone has made small minority investments in emerging security companies, including Carbon Black / Bit9, iSIGHT Partners, Secure Mentem, WatchDox, and Cylance.
“With this investment, we are excited to build upon Blackstone’s growing information security expertise as the sector becomes increasingly relevant across industries. Our investment will provide Accuvant’s experienced team with necessary resources as it continues to establish a reputation for excellence in the information risk and security space,” said Dave Johnson, Senior Managing Director in Blackstone’s Private Equity Group.
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment and advisory firms. The firm’s alternative asset management businesses include the management of private equity funds, real estate funds, hedge fund solutions, credit-focused funds and closed-end funds. Blackstone also provides various financial advisory services, including financial and strategic advisory, restructuring and reorganization advisory and fund placement services. Blackstone is headquartered in New York (www.blackstone.com).
Sverica invests in service oriented businesses and light industrial manufacturers. The firm targets companies with enterprise values under $100 million and EBITDAs greater than $3 million. Sverica was founded in 1993 and has over $425 million of assets under management across three funds. The firm has offices in Boston and San Francisco (www.sverica.com).
“We are looking forward to being part of the Blackstone family,” said Dan Burns, Accuvant co-founder and chief executive officer. “Security has transcended everyone and everything – from people to companies to nations. Accuvant has already helped thousands of organizations protect themselves and their customers. But, there’s so much more we can do. This partnership will enable us to accelerate our pace of innovation and expansion, and allow us to deliver new services and solutions that meet the constantly evolving needs of the global and critically important market.”
© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-12-14