Akamai buys Israel’s Guardicore; HUB Security snaps up Comsec
US-based Akamai Technologies has acquired Israeli cybersecurity company Guardicore for about $600 million.
The Guardicore acquisition is likely to generate revenue of $30-35 million for Akamai in 2022, the US company said.
Guardicore was founded eight years ago by chief executive officer Pavel Gurvich, Ariel Zeitlin and Dror Sal’ee. It has raised $110 million since inception. The buy price is effectively more than five times the money the company raised.
Tel Aviv-based Guardicore helps dodge cyberattacks by using network segmentation tools. It was previously backed by former Israel prime minister Ehud Barack. Its other investors include 83North, Battery Ventures, Qumra Capital, Greenfield, ClalTech, Deutsche Telekom, Dell, Cisco and Greylock.
This is the third Israeli company Akamai has acquired in the last decade. In 2011, it had bought Contendo for $300 million. In 2019, it purchased ChameleonX for $20 million.
HUB Security
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange-listed cybersecurity company HUB Security has acquired Comsec Global in a deal worth NIS70 million ($21.7 million).
Of the total buy price, HUB will pay NIS40 million in cash and the remainder in stock.
HUB said the acquisition will help it scale its international operations up to 40 countries and to double its revenue.
Comsec, which has annual revenue of NIS120 million, was founded in 1987. It has subsidiaries across the UK and the Netherlands and operates four consulting and distribution companies.
HUB Security was founded in 2017 by chief executive officer Eyal Moshe and chief technology officer Andrey Laremenko, both former officers of the Israeli intelligence services.
The company listed on the TASE in June this year via a merger with ALD Advanced Logistics Development Ltd.
Valens Semiconductor
Israeli chipmaker Valens Semiconductor has completed its merger with New York Stock Exchange-listed blank cheque company PTK Acquisition Corp.
In the deal, which was first announced in May, Valens was to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) at a $1.16 billion valuation.
Valens has previously raised a total of $150 million from investors such as Samsung, Goldman Sachs, Mediatek and Mitsui Ventures, according to an investor presentation.
The company was founded in 2006 by Dror Jerushalmi, Massad Eyal, Eyran Lida, Gaby Gur Cohen, Nadav Banet, and Alon Benzaray. It is currently led by CEO Gideon Ben-Zvi.
The transaction is expected to deliver about $240 million of gross proceeds. This comprises up to $115 million of cash held in PTK’s trust account (assuming no redemptions) and $125 million from a fully subscribed PIPE offering led by a global institutional investor as well as by Taiwanese semiconductor company Mediatek. PIPE is short for private investments in public equities. PTK’s sponsor will also be participating in the PIPE offering.
The merger was sealed at Valens’ initial pro-forma equity value of about $1.16 billion.
Valens’ existing shareholders and management hold about 78% of the combined company after the transaction.
Valens will continue to be led by its management team, with Gideon Ben-Zvi as CEO, Dror Heldenberg as CFO, and all founders retaining their senior management or board positions. Ker Zhang from PTK will join the Valens board.
Valens has 270 employees, a majority of whom work out of Israel. It posted revenue of $57 million for 2020 and gross profit of $43 million. It expects revenue to jump to $120 million in 2023 and $482 million in 2026.
