Good news for the cybersecurity industry: after plummeting in the third quarter of 2022, investment deals in the sector picked up again in Q4, according to data analytics firms Momentum Cyber and 451 Research.
This improvement is partly attributed to Thoma Bravo’s $2.3bn buyout of ForgeRock on October 11, 2022, and Vista Equity Partners' $4.6bn acquisition of KnowBe4 on October 12. It’ll be no surprise to many that the 10 biggest deals were made in the US.
Here are the top 10 global cybersecurity deals announced in 2022, put together by Infosecurity.
1. Broadcom’s $61bn Acquisition of VMware Still Under Inquiry
Touted as one of the biggest cybersecurity deals in history in May, the acquisition of cloud service provider VMware by the semiconductor giant Broadcom was approved by VMware stockholders in November. A few days later, however, the UK raised concerns over the potential negative impact this deal would have on competition in its market. In December, the EU Commission announced that it was starting a four-month probe over similar concerns.
2. Citrix Merged with Vista's portfolio company TIBCO Software for $16.5bn
Earlier, in January, Citrix Systems, a Florida-based cloud service provider, was acquired by affiliates of Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital Corporation, an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management L.P., for $16.5bn. Following the deal, approved by Citrix’s shareholders in April, the cloud provider stopped trading on the Nasdaq, became a private company, and its services were initially supposed to be combined with Vista’s portfolio company, TIBCO Software. Instead, the two companies have been integrated in the newly-formed Cloud Software Group with seven other Vista-owned services.
3. SailPoint, Biggest Catch of 2022 for Thoma Bravo At $7bn
Although its intention of buying UK security vendor Darktrace fell through, VC firm Thoma Bravo went on a cybersecurity acquisition spree in 2022. Its biggest catch was SailPoint, a Texas-based identity management company that it bought for $7bn in April.
4. Kaseya Acquired Datto for $6.2bn And Promised to Lower Prices
In April, IT management software provider Kaseya purchased cloud software vendor Datto for $6.2bn with funding led by Insight Partners. It closed the deal in June and promised to “boost innovation and lower prices.”
5. Mandiant Now Part of Google Cloud for $5.4bn
After being owned by FireEye between 2013 and 2021, Virginia-based cybersecurity giant Mandiant was again acquired in March 2022. This time, the buyer is Google, for a deal valued at $5.4bn – FireEye spent $1bn in 2013 and sold Mandiant to a consortium led by Symphony Technology Group (STG) in 2021 for $1.2bn. Mandiant is now part of Google Cloud’s services.
6. Vista Equity Partners Purchased KnowBe4 for $4.6bn
In October, Vista Equity Partners struck again and acquired Florida-based security awareness training provider KnowBe4 for $4.6bn. Just like Citrix. KnowBe4 is expected to make the publicly traded company a private firm once the acquisition is complete.
7. Thoma Bravo Acquired Ping Identity for $2.6bn…
Announced in August, the buyout of Ping Identity by Thoma Bravo was confirmed by Ping Identity’s shareholders in October in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.8bn.
8. … and ForgeRock for $2.3bn
An all-cash transaction was also carried out for for ForgeRock in October in which Thoma Bravo spent $2.3bn to add the identity and access management (IAM) services to its portfolio. This is the third IAM provider to join the equity firm in just a few months, after SailPoint and Ping Identity.
9. CSI Purchased by Centerbridge Partners and Bridgeport Partners for $1.6bn
Computer Services Inc., better known as CSI, was acquired by private equity firms Centerbridge Partners and Bridgeport Partners on November 16, after an initial announcement in August. CSI offers security solutions for the fintech and regulatory technology (regtech) sectors.
10. SentinelOne Spent $617m to Buy Attivo Networks
First announced in March, the acquisition of identity management firm Attivo Networks by SentinelOne was closed in May. The deal was valued at $617m. Attivo’s services will integrate SentinelOne’s extended detection and response (XDR) platform, called Singularity XDR.