Dec 06, 2016
Optiv Security, a market-leading provider of end-to-end cyber security solutions, and KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which KKR will acquire a majority stake in Optiv. The company is being acquired from a group of private investors, including a private equity fund managed by Blackstone, which will maintain a minority interest in Optiv along with Optiv management. Optiv has called off a pending IPO as a result of the upcoming acquisition.
Optiv was created by the merger of Overland Park-based FishNet Security Inc. and Denver-based Accuvant Inc. in February 2015.
Over the past three years, Optiv has served more than 7,500 clients in 76 countries, including 71 of the Fortune 100 and 604 of the Fortune 1000. Optiv was named to the 2016 Inc. 5000 as one of North America’s fastest-growing private companies with a 97 percent three-year growth rate. The company made several strategic acquisitions this year to broaden its cyber security services and solutions, and strengthen and expand its geographic footprint.
Optiv maintains strong relationships with established and emerging security software providers and hardware manufacturers, serving as the number one information security provider for 16 of its top 20 partners. “Cyber security has been a growing focus and pain point for companies over the last decade, and is now one of the highest priorities for global enterprises. We have been following the cyber security sector very closely over the past several years and believe Optiv represents an attractive investment opportunity given its market leadership as a critical partner and advisor to the Global 1000,” Herald Chen, co-head of KKR’s Technology, Media & Telecom investment team, said. “For KKR, this investment is premised on partnering with an awesome management team to build Optiv into a global security powerhouse by accelerating investment in Optiv's product and service capabilities and expanding its presence across the U.S. and internationally."
“More and more organizations are seeking an end-to-end cyber security solutions provider at scale that has awareness over every domain of cyber security and the ability to execute a comprehensive security strategy,” said Dan Burns, Optiv’s chief executive officer. “Blackstone has been an exceptional partner over the past few years, providing Optiv the necessary resources to create a truly unique platform with depth and breadth of offerings, extensive capabilities and proven expertise in cyber security strategy. This new investment from KKR will enable our company to better help global clients address their full range of cyber risk and security needs in a customized and integrated fashion. We are excited about this agreement and look forward to working with KKR to become the world’s most advanced, most comprehensive and most trusted partner for cyber security solutions.”
“I am very proud of the success of the Blackstone and Optiv partnership. The Blackstone team worked with a remarkable management team who executed incredibly well to create Optiv, a truly unique company, and the first scale, national, acquisition platform in cyber security,” said Dave Johnson, senior advisor to Blackstone.