Cybersecurity company Proofpoint to shop for European rival for $1 billion because it eyes IPO

Cybersecurity company Proofpoint introduced Thursday it’s going to achieve Germany-based competitor Hornetsecurity for $1 billion to enhance its European presence because it explores a go back to public markets.

The deal marks the most important unmarried acquisition in Proofpoint’s historical past.

The Sunnyvale, California-based corporate, which is these days owned via personal fairness massive Thoma Bravo, mentioned the deal to shop for Hornetsecurity would lend a hand deepen its experience within the controlled carrier supplier (MSP) ecosystem.

Headquartered in Hannover, Germany, Hornetsecurity makes a speciality of controlled cloud-based electronic mail safety services and products to lend a hand give protection to corporations from cyberattacks, information loss, and compliance dangers related to Microsoft 365 and different IT infrastructure.

Proofpoint CEO Sumit Dhawan advised CNBC the deal will lend a hand “consolidate fragmented security tools into a unified platform that protects people and defends data across the global threat landscape.”

“Generative AI has fundamentally changed the threat landscape, enabling faster, more targeted, and more complex attacks,” Dhawan mentioned in an interview. Small and medium-sized corporations “are increasingly in the crosshairs” of hackers and require “integrated, high-efficacy” answers, he added.

Proofpoint’s boss advised CNBC in October ultimate yr that the corporate was once exploring exterior investment in addition to mergers and acquisitions of smaller cybersecurity corporations with an purpose to go back to the general public markets in 2026. The corporate went personal in 2021 in a $12.3 billion acquisition via personal fairness company Thoma Bravo.

“Hornetsecurity brings very strong business to Proofpoint targeting a new market segment of MSPs and diversifies our routes to market,” Dhawan mentioned.

“It contributes significantly to our earnings and cash flow going forward, which makes us an even stronger company and business as we explore a return to public markets,” he added.

Dhawan mentioned that whilst there’s “nothing new” to percentage on Proofpoint’s IPO plans for now, “we remain interested in the IPO market and will explore public markets when we feel the time is right.”

Hornetsecurity serves greater than 125,000 small to medium-sized companies and has greater than 700 staff, in keeping with a press free up. Proofpoint has over 4,500 staff and counts 85% of the Fortune 100 as shoppers.

The deal is predicted to near in the second one part of 2025, matter to standard ultimate prerequisites.