SGT Capital is acquiring cybersecurity-as-a-service provider and compliance company Utimaco Verwaltungs GmbH from private equity firm EQT. Moreover, Bain Capital Credit provided financing for the acquisition. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This is M&A deal number 516 that MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E have covered thus far in 2021.
Utimaco Cybersecurity Industry Market Focus
Utimaco develops on-premises and cloud-based hardware security modules, as well compliance solutions for telecommunication providers that support regulated industries. The company has dual headquarters in Aachen, Germany, and Campbell, California, United States.
EQT had owned Utimaco since October 2016. At the time of the 2016 deal, Utimaco had annual turnover of approximately EUR 40 million and 170 employees. Current turnover is undisclosed, but Utimaco as of August 2021 had grown to 470 employees. Some of that headcount growth likely involved acquisitions.
Indeed, Utimaco has been active in the M&A market. Key deals include acquiring:
- REALSEC, the Spanish IT security company and Hardware Security Module (HSM) provider.
- Exceet Secure Solutions GmbH (ESS) for IT security and the Internet of Things (IoT) expertise
- Geobridge for key management portfolio in the financial industry.
- MYHSM, a provider of Payment HSM as a Service.
SGT Capital Buys Utimaco: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about the acquisition, Joseph Pacini, co-managing partner of SGT Capital, said:
"Utimaco is the clear market leader in global cybersecurity as well as data intelligence solutions and has executed an impressive innovation, growth and M&A strategy. We look forward to working with Stefan Auerbach and the entire Utimaco team as well as EQT Private Equity and Bain Capital Credit going forwards."
Added Florian Funk, partner within EQT Private Equity's Advisory Team:
"Utimaco plays a crucial role in fighting cyber-crime making the world a safer place. We would like to thank all employees for this exciting journey - we are convinced that Utimaco will continue its successful path with its new majority owner and are happy to stay invested as a minority owner."
Noted Tom Maughan, head of private credit in Europe for Bain Capital Credit:
"We have been very impressed with the performance of Utimaco over the last few years. Bain Capital is delighted to support SGT Capital in their investment and to continue to work alongside this talented management team led by Stefan Auerbach. "
Said Stefan Auerbach, CEO of Utimaco:
"In the last years, we have built a global platform leader for trusted cybersecurity solutions, providing the highest level of security and compliance to the world's largest corporates and governments. We look forward to the next phase of growth together with SGT Capital."
Concluded Carsten Geyer, co-managing partner of SGT Capital:
"Utimaco clearly fits within the SGT Capital business model of investing in market leading business with excellent executives and significant future global growth potential – particularly into high growth regions such as Asia. We look forward to opening up doors of success together with the Utimaco team, EQT Private Equity and Bain Capital Credit."
The deal, subject to regulatory conditions and approvals, is expected to close in Q4 2021. SGT Capital was advised by E&Y (commercial/technology, financial, tax) and Willkie Farr Gallagher (legal).
