In a merger that is expected to address the convergence of threat and messaging management gateways, Secure Computing has signed a definitive agreement to acquire CipherTrust, a privately-held messaging security company that provides layered security solutions to stop inbound messaging threats such as spam, viruses, intrusions and phishing, and protects against outbound policy and compliance violations associated with sensitive data leakage. Secure Computing is purchasing CipherTrust for total consideration of USD 273.6 million, which is comprised of USD 185 million in cash, 10 million shares of Secure Computing common stock, and a USD 10 million seller note that is subject to certain performance obligations.
CipherTrust's messaging security is expected to complement Secure Computing's focus on Unified Threat Management, Web filtering and hardware authentication. "Over the past few months, we have made excellent progress with the integration of CyberGuard," said John McNulty, chairman, president and CEO of Secure Computing. "With the brunt of the initial integration activity now behind us, we believe the time is right to continue investing in enterprise gateway security, which is experiencing strong growth. After an extensive review and due diligence process, we believe CipherTrust is the perfect addition to Secure Computing."
According to IDC, the Secure Content Management Appliance market is expected to grow to USD 1.7 billion in 2009, a 47% CAGR from 2004 through 2009. In the Messaging Security sub-market, IDC expects this area to grow to USD 2.6 billion in 2009, a 31% CAGR from 2004 through 2009.
"As threats and attacks move from targeting the network to targeting applications, companies are requiring application gateways with sophisticated content analysis capabilities," said McNulty. "By combining the two companies, we will offer highly differentiated enterprise gateway security solutions that provides customers with integrated, multi-layer protection for messaging and web communication. As a result, we will be better positioned to help protect our customers' most valuable asset -- their data."
"The synergies between the two companies are tremendous," said Chaudhry. "Our products and technologies are complementary, our channel and selling strategy similar but with little overlap in channel partners, and our teams have strong domain expertise in security with an established record for delivering innovative products. Our combined business will bring focus and innovation of a start-up and the scale, size and financial strength of a larger company." |
