Private equity firm Francisco Partners is acquiring cybersecurity company Forcepoint from defense contractor Raytheon Technologies. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This is M&A deal 436 that MSSP Alert and sister site ChannelE2E have covered so far in 2020. See the full M&A deal list here.
Forcepoint, formerly Websense, has essentially been up for sale since about October 2019. At the time, Raytheon described how it was working to buy out private equity firm Vista Equity's stake in Forcepoint, while also exploring an overall sale of the cybersecurity business.
Once that game plan was loosely shared with Wall Street analysts, Raytheon purchased Vista Equity's Forcepoint stake in January 2020. Now, Francisco Partners is buying the entire Forcepoint business from Raytheon.
Forcepoint's technology helps organizations to monitor and protect networks, endpoints, data, and users. The company develops behavior-based solutions that adapt to risk in real-time and are delivered through a cloud-native security.
Francisco Partners Acquires Forcepoint: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about the deal, Brian Decker, partner at Francisco Partners, said:
“We have followed Forcepoint for years and have a deep appreciation for its outstanding portfolio of innovative security products. Security is an increasingly important strategic investment area for enterprises, creating significant opportunities for Forcepoint to continue to build upon its track record of success.”
Added Andrew Kowal, partner at Francisco Partners:
“Executing divisional carve-outs has been a core focus of Francisco Partners since we founded the firm in 1999. We look forward to working with the Forcepoint management team to help the company realize its full potential as an independent company while delivering enhanced value to the company’s customers, partners, and the end users its products protect.”
Noted Evan Daar, principal at Francisco Partners:
“Forcepoint has established a leadership position as a provider of cybersecurity solutions to customers around the world. We look forward to partnering with the Forcepoint team to further invest in the company’s cloud security portfolio.”
Concluded Matt Moynahan, CEO of Forcepoint:
“We are proud to have built an industry-leading portfolio of security products that protect our customers’ infrastructure, people, and data. This transaction represents an exciting opportunity for Forcepoint to continue to innovate and drive growth with Francisco Partners. We believe that this partnership will help us to continue to invest in our products and organization while delivering increased value to our customers.”
ForcePoint Acquired: M&A Deal Advisors
Additional companies assisting the deal include:
- Debt financing for this transaction was provided by Credit Suisse.
- Paul Hastings LLP and Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal advisors to Francisco Partners.
- Barclays acted as exclusive financial advisor and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP acted as legal advisor to Raytheon Technologies.
