Dell Technologies may sell Secureworks, a managed security services provider (MSSP) in which the computer giant has an 85 percent stake, according to Reuters.
The Top 100 MSSP has a market value of nearly $2 billion and the company's stock is publicly traded. Neither Dell nor Secureworks commented about the Reuters report. MSSP Alert has not independently confirmed the report.
Rumors about the potential sale come only one week after Dell announced a security partnership with CrowdStrike and Secureworks.
Secureworks Evolution
In recent months, Secureworks has more aggressively partnered with third-party security software providers. And the company has been re-engaging channel partners after stumbling in the partner ecosystem several quarters ago.
Secureworks expects to generate revenues of $565 million to $575 million for fiscal year 2o20. In its recent third quarter of fiscal 2019, revenue grew 13.6 percent to $133.1 million, including 51 percent growth year over year internationally, the company noted. The Q3 fiscal 2019 figures generally exceeded Wall Street's expectations.
Among the company's recent milestones: Adding CrowdStrike and Carbon Black to its Red Cloak Partner Program. Plus, pushing into managed detection and response (MDR) services.
Dell Evolution
Meanwhile, Dell has acquired and sold multiple assets in recent years. Many of the moves were designed to strengthen the company's balance sheet following the massive $67 billion buyout of EMC in 2015. Dell recently returned to public markets, and Wall Street pundits are watching to see if the company can continue to pay down its debt while also marching toward profitability.
M&A activity involving MSSPs has been strong in recent months. Just last week, French telecommunications giant Orange acquired SecureData, the UK’s largest independent MSSP.
