8 May 2019
Investcorp, a leading global provider and manager of alternative investment products, today announced that it has agreed to the sale of SecureLink Group ("SecureLink" or the "Company"), one of the largest dedicated cybersecurity infrastructure and managed services providers in Europe, to global telecoms group Orange for an enterprise value of €515 million.
Investcorp first acquired SecureLink, a leading player in the Benelux region, in December 2015 with a view to consolidating the highly attractive but fragmented European cybersecurity market. Over the last three years, SecureLink has experienced strong organic growth, added leading providers in Scandinavia, the UK and Germany to its platform and expanded in China. Investcorp, in partnership with management and founders of the Company, has successfully executed a targeted buy-and-build strategy and transformed SecureLink from a regional leader to a leading pan-European provider of cybersecurity services.
Daniel Lopez-Cruz, Head of Private Equity Europe, Investcorp said: “Investcorp has a long history of investing in the cybersecurity industry on both sides of the Atlantic. Since our initial acquisition, SecureLink has more than tripled its revenue and expanded its footprint to seven countries in Europe as well as China. This exit not only adds to our strong track record in cybersecurity but also demonstrates our ability to identify attractive and fragmented industries and to execute an effective buy-and-build strategy. Under Orange’s stewardship, we believe the Company will continue to flourish and are proud to have played a part in its development.”
Thomas Fetten, Chief Executive Officer, SecureLink, added: “Recognizing our clients’ needs for more advanced cybersecurity solutions and services across a landscape of rapidly evolving business threats we had a strong partner with Investcorp in identifying a number of strategic acquisitions to significantly enhance our products and services offering across a broader range of geographies. The successful combination of SecureLink and Investcorp’s resource and expertise has created a European market leader which today, safely enables the business of our valued customer base. We have enjoyed our partnership with Investcorp during which time we have been able to realize considerable growth. We look forward to the opportunities to drive continued value for our clients with our new shareholder.”
The Company has been advised in this transaction by Jefferies (corporate finance), KPMG (tax), Stibbe (legal) and Travelers (insurance).