Private equity firm Clearlake Capital Group has invested in RSA Security, and is now an equal RSA financial partner with Symphony Technology Group (STG). Financial terms of the Clearlake investment were not disclosed.
RSA is well-known for its token-based security technology, but the business faces intense competition from fast-growing identity and access management (IAM) cloud and software providers such as Okta and Ping Identity, Bloomberg has noted.
RSA also is known for its massive RSA Conference — which is scheduled for February 2022 in San Francisco.
RSA spun off its Outseer Fraud & Risk Intelligence business into a standalone company in June 2021. Financial terms of that spin-out were note disclosed.
RSA Security: Private Equity Owners Have Security, IT Management Experience
STG acquired RSA Security in 2020 alongside Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board from Dell Technologies. Ontario Teachers' remains a "significant" minority shareholder, that organization says.
Both Clearlake and STG have experience investing in the cybersecurity, IT management and small business technology markets. For instance:
- Clearlake has approximately $39 billion of assets under management, and its senior investment principals have led or co-led over 300 investments, the private equity company says. Key Clearlake investments and portfolio companies include IT asset management software provider Ivanti, and small business hosting provider Endurance International, among others.
- STG's portfolio spans of more than 35 global companies, the firm says. Key STG investments and portfolio companies include McAfee's enterprise business, risk scoring company RedSeal, and SAP partner Winshuttle Holdings, among others.
RSA Security Investors: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about the Clearlake investment, RSA Security CEO Rohit Ghai said:
"Clearlake's investment in RSA comes at an opportune time and will support the Company as it looks to accelerate innovation in the key cybersecurity and risk management markets in which we operate. We are thrilled to partner with Clearlake and look forward to leveraging their proprietary O.P.S.® framework to continue to deliver best-in-class software to a large and growing global customer base."
Added Behdad Eghbali, co-founder and managing partner, and Prashant Mehrotra, partner, of Clearlake:
"RSA is a pioneer in the cybersecurity and risk management markets and its mission critical software solutions are more relevant than ever in today's marketplace. We believe the robust market growth and strong secular tailwinds underpinning RSA's leadership position as well as STG's successful efforts to establish RSA as a standalone company have positioned the Company well for continuing to serve its blue-chip customer base. We look forward to partnering with STG in transforming the business and investing to accelerate both organic and inorganic growth."
Concluded William Chisholm, managing partner of STG:
"Clearlake's distinguished track record of investing in leading software companies, as well as their deep understanding of the growing importance of RSA's risk and cybersecurity solutions in the digital age, made them a perfect partner for us in helping RSA during its next phase of growth."
