• EQT Private Equity to sell Utimaco, one of the global leading providers of mission-critical professional cybersecurity and data intelligence solutions for regulated critical infrastructures

• Together with EQT, Utimaco has executed an impressive innovation, growth and M&A strategy, including five add-ons in the US, UK, Spain, and Germany and transformed into one of the leading integrated European cybersecurity champions with global reach

• Under EQT’s ownership, Utimaco has close to tripled its revenues and is expected to generate more than EUR 100 million for the fiscal year of 2022

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Mid Market Europe fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has agreed to sell Utimaco Verwaltungs GmbH (“Utimaco” or the “Company”) to SGT Capital LLC (“SGT”), a global alternative asset manager with offices in Germany and Singapore.

Headquartered in Aachen, Germany, and Campbell, CA, US, Utimaco is the leading platform provider of trusted cybersecurity and compliance solutions and services. The Company provides on-premises and cloud-based hardware security modules, as well as key management solutions and data intelligence solutions for regulated critical infrastructures. Utimaco has more than 470 employees around the globe and with its focus on protecting data, identities and critical infrastructures against cyber-crime, the Company is a crucial force in contributing to making the world and societies a safer place.

Together with EQT Private Equity, Utimaco has executed an impressive innovation, growth and M&A strategy. In addition to strong organic growth, the Company has completed five strategic add-ons in the US, UK, Spain, and Germany and transformed into one of the global leading integrated European cybersecurity champions with strong capabilities in high-growth areas. Under EQT’s ownership, Utimaco has close to tripled its revenues, while maintaining its unique focus on R&D, innovation, and customer satisfaction.

Florian Funk, Partner within EQT Private Equity’s Advisory Team, said: “Utimaco plays a crucial role in fighting cyber-crime making the world a safer place and we are extremely proud of having supported Utimaco on its mission to create trust in the digital society, as cyber terrorism and data abuse is growing in complexity, sophistication and frequency. We would like to thank all employees for this exciting journey – We are convinced that Utimaco will continue its successful path with its new majority owner and are happy to stay invested as a minority owner.”

Stefan Auerbach, CEO of Utimaco, said: “In the last years, we have built a global platform leader for trusted cybersecurity solutions, providing the highest level of security and compliance to the world’s largest corporates and governments. With EQT’s support, we have been able to transform the business and accelerate growth by making substantial investments. The collaboration with the EQT team and the board has been fantastic, and we would like to thank you all for the great partnership and look forward to the next phase of growth together with SGT.”

Joseph Pacini, Co-Managing Partner of SGT Capital, said: “Utimaco is the clear market leader in global cybersecurity as well as data intelligence solutions and has executed an impressive innovation, growth and M&A strategy. We look forward to working with Stefan Auerbach and the entire Utimaco team as well as EQT Private Equity going forwards.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory conditions and approvals and is expected to close in Q4 2021. The parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction value. EQT Private Equity was advised by Moelis & Company (financial advisor), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (legal), PWC (financial, tax) and Strategy& (commercial).

Contact
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with more than EUR 67 billion in assets under management across 26 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 175,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

About Utimaco
Utimaco is a global platform provider of trusted Cybersecurity and Compliance solutions and services with headquarters in Aachen (Germany) and Campbell, CA (USA). UTIMACO develops on-premises and cloud-based hardware security modules and key management solutions as well as data intelligence solutions for regulated critical infrastructures. Utimaco is one of the world’s leading manufacturers in both of these market segments. 470+ employees around the globe create innovative solutions and services to protect data, identities and communication networks with responsibility for global customers and citizens. Customers and partners in many different industries value the reliability and long-term investment security of Utimaco’s high-security products and solutions.

More info: https://www.utimaco.com/

Audax Private Equity (“Audax”) today announced that it has made a growth investment in Team Cymru, a global leader in cyber threat intelligence, to support its continued initiatives in the security space. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. This investment will help expand the depth and breadth of Team Cymru’s solutions, allowing the company to make its unique threat intelligence accessible to a broader user base, and will support the acceleration of growth through acquisitions.

Based in Lake Mary, Florida, with operations across the globe, Team Cymru provides high-fidelity threat intelligence feeds and a unique external threat hunting platform, as well as analysis services. In addition to commercial offerings, the company furthers its mission to save and improve human lives by providing no-cost services to a variety of entities, including more than 130 CSIRT teams, network operators, and hosting providers.

“We are impressed by Team Cymru’s differentiated capabilities and its reputation with customers across a wide range of verticals,” commented Tim Mack, Managing Director of Audax. “As a leading provider of insight into malevolent infrastructure and a pioneer in external threat hunting and global security intelligence, we believe Team Cymru is an excellent investment in an accelerating segment of the market.”

The company’s flagship solution, Pure Signal™ Recon, is used by analysts to identify and trace malicious infrastructure, optimize incident response, and detect threats across supply chains and third-party vendors. Its security intelligence has been a key component in the offerings of software and security vendors for many years.
“We’re proud to be a premier source of ground truth for advanced security teams,” stated Rabbi Rob Thomas, Founder and CEO of Team Cymru. “We want to enable security teams at all stages of maturity to better predict attacks, interdict malicious infrastructure, and manage cyber risk more effectively.”

Baird served as exclusive financial advisor to Team Cymru, and Foley & Lardner served as exclusive legal counsel to Team Cymru. Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal counsel to Audax.

May 12, 2021

Investment to Fuel Innovation and Growth, Including Global Expansion and Product Innovation

MINNEAPOLIS, May 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — NetSPI, the leader in enterprise penetration testing and attack surface management, today announced it has raised $90 million in growth funding led by KKR, with participation from Ten Eleven Ventures. The investment will be used to further accelerate NetSPI’s rapid growth by expanding the company’s cybersecurity and client experience teams, investing in product innovation, and deepening operations across U.S. and international markets.

“The reality is that cyber security attacks today are inevitable and put organizations at grave risk,” said NetSPI President and Chief Executive Officer Aaron Shilts. “At NetSPI, we strive to stay one step ahead of hackers, breaches, and bad actors by focusing on prevention-based security techniques. Rooted in the founding tenets of the company, our goals are purposely aggressive to help our clients adapt to the constantly evolving threat landscape.”

Since its founding, NetSPI has focused and customized its services to help companies proactively defend themselves from cyberattacks through a robust and innovative technology platform, ensuring computer systems and networks thoroughly identify and address security vulnerabilities in an efficient and comprehensive manner. At a time when cybersecurity spending is expected to exceed $200 billion per year by 2024, according to a recent Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) report, more companies are preparing to fend off sophisticated cyber-attacks and avoid reputational and business risks.

“Our clients rely on us to help secure their ever-evolving attack surface by leveraging our expertise in cloud, red team, application, and network security,” continued Shilts. “This investment from KKR and Ten Eleven Ventures allows NetSPI to better meet this demand while simultaneously fueling growth and innovation as a leader in the booming cybersecurity market. With our investors’ support, NetSPI will continue to transform the industry with a focus on attack surface management, enterprise security testing, and vulnerability management.”

“NetSPI has built a differentiated suite of tech-enabled services that are not only enhancing cybersecurity for complex global enterprises across a wide range of industries but are simultaneously disrupting the traditional penetration testing market in order for these enterprises to security test at scale,” said Ben Pederson, Principal at KKR. “We are excited to invest in NetSPI’s growth as they build and deliver these critically important offensive security solutions.”

Jake Heller, Head of KKR’s Technology Growth team in the Americas, added: “Aaron and his team have a deep appreciation for the needs of their customers and the increasing demand for best-in-class, tech-enabled cybersecurity systems, which we have witnessed firsthand throughout KKR’s global portfolio of companies who rightfully and consistently identify cybersecurity among their top IT priorities.”

KKR is investing in NetSPI through its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund II. Together with Ten Eleven Ventures, KKR has invested in market-leading cybersecurity companies including Darktrace, KnowBe4, Ping Identity, Cylance, ForgeRock, and ReliaQuest.

“Penetration testing is a critical component of any enterprise’s security program and will continue to be an important part of compliance and regulatory requirements in the future,” said Mark Hatfield, General Partner, Ten Eleven Ventures. “With its deep expertise and automated platform, NetSPI has developed an incredibly effective and efficient approach to penetration testing and attack surface management. We’re thrilled to partner with this exceptional team and look forward to drawing on our cybersecurity expertise to help NetSPI bring its technology to more companies across the globe.”

After spending its first several years as a bootstrapped, profitable business, in 2017 NetSPI partnered with Sunstone Partners, who has been instrumental to the company’s growth post-investment. Gus Alberelli, Managing Director of Sunstone Partners, said: “We’re incredibly fortunate to partner with NetSPI’s team and proud of the company’s extraordinary growth stemming from its technology-enabled penetration testing team. We are excited for KKR and Ten Eleven Ventures to join Sunstone Partners in supporting NetSPI’s growth journey.”

The investment is the latest transaction in a period of accelerated growth for NetSPI. Most recently, NetSPI acquired Silent Break Security and incorporated its proprietary Adversary Simulation and Red Team Toolkit software into the company’s offensive cyber security and attack surface management offerings. In 2020, NetSPI launched Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS) powered by its Resolve™ platform. Upcoming additions of risk scoring, vulnerability intelligence, breach and attack simulation, and more will continue to differentiate NetSPI’s technology offerings.

Goodwin Procter LLP advised NetSPI on the transaction and Latham & Watkins LLP advised KKR and Ten Eleven Ventures.

About NetSPI
NetSPI is the leader in enterprise security testing and attack surface management, partnering with nine of the top 10 U.S. banks, three of the world’s five largest health care companies, the largest global cloud providers, and many of the Fortune® 500. NetSPI experts perform deep dive manual penetration testing of application, network, and cloud attack surfaces, historically testing over 1 million assets to find 4 million unique vulnerabilities. NetSPI offers Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS) through its Resolve™ platform and adversary simulation through its Red Team Tool Kit. NetSPI is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN and is a portfolio company of growth equity firm Sunstone Partners, KKR, and Ten Eleven Ventures. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management and capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life, and reinsurance products under the management of The Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com  and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

About Ten Eleven Ventures
Ten Eleven Ventures is the original venture capital firm focused solely on investing in digital security. The firm invests globally and at all stages, from seed to growth (the latter via its Joint Investment Alliance with KKR). Since its founding in Silicon Valley in 2015, Ten Eleven Ventures has raised nearly $US 500 million and invested in 30 leading cybersecurity companies including KnowBe4, Darktrace, Twistlock, Verodin, Cylance, and Ping Identity. For more information, please visit www.1011vc.com or follow us on Twitter @1011vc.

About Sunstone Partners
Sunstone Partners is a growth-oriented private equity firm that makes majority and minority investments in technology-enabled services and software businesses. Recently recognized as one of Inc.’s 2020 PE 50 founder-friendly private equity firms for entrepreneurs, the firm seeks to partner with exceptional management teams, often as their first institutional capital partner, to help accelerate organic growth and fund acquisitions. Founded in 2015, the firm has $800 million of committed capital to its first two funds. For more information, visit www.sunstonepartners.com.

Media Contacts:

Jean Hill, Maccabee PR for NetSPI
jean@maccabee.com
(612) 294-3154

KKR
Cara Major or Miles Radcliffe-Trenner
Media@KKR.com
(212) 750-8300

Ten Eleven Ventures
Megan Dubofsky
mdubofsky@1011vc.com
(917) 576-5590

SOURCE NetSPI

Eurazeo’s small-mid buyout team1 has signed an exclusivity agreement with the aim of investing in I-TRACING alongside the company’s management and founders Theodore-Michel Vrangos and Laurent Charvériat, who would collectively hold 49% of the company’s equity after completion of the transaction.
Keensight Capital, minority financial shareholder since 2017, would sell its entire stake while Sagard NewGen would invest as a minority shareholder in a holding company controlled by Eurazeo.

The transaction would value I-TRACING at €165 million. Eurazeo would become an anchor investor of the group by investing around €65 million.
I-TRACING was founded in 2005 and offers a comprehensive range of high-value-added services to secure its clients’ IT systems: consultancy, audits and pen tests, integration of diversified software solutions and associated managed services, identity and access management, operation of SOCs (Security Operations Centers) as well as deployment of cyberattack response units (CERTs or Computer Emergency Response Teams).

Headquartered in Paris, I-TRACING employs more than 285 experts who help their clients (CAC40, SBF120 and medium-sized companies) with all of their cybersecurity needs. The company also has subsidiaries in Montreal, Hong Kong and London, enabling the group to offer managed services and support on a 24/7 basis. In 2020, I-TRACING generated nearly €50 million of revenue, up around 40% vs. 2019, despite the Covid-19 crisis. The company targets around €70 million revenues in 2021.
Eurazeo’s small-mid buyout team, Sagard NewGen and I-TRACING’s management share the ambition of building a leading European provider of cybersecurity services. This would entail an acceleration of the company’s growth through further expansion, capitalizing on its high level of expertise as well as the rapid growth of its market and underlying demand. The new chapter is also aiming at pursuing an active buy-and-build strategy, with several targets already identified, as well as supporting I-TRACING’ clients internationally.

Pierre Meignen, Member of Eurazeo PME’s Executive Board, said:
“We are delighted to be involved in I-TRACING’s project. Eurazeo ambitions to provide long-term support to Théodore-Michel Vrangos and Laurent Charvériat in their growth strategy and contribute to the emergence of a European leading independent provider of cybersecurity services. Further than its financial support, Eurazeo would bring the expertise and support of its experienced teams located in 10 countries around the world and its international business network. We can’t wait to actively back the group in a new active phase of its development.”

Théodore-Michel Vrangos and Laurent Charvériat, I-TRACING’s two Founding Partners, underlined:
“We are very pleased to enter I-TRACING’s new phase of development alongside Eurazeo and Sagard, to write a new chapter in our journey as an independent company, 15 years after it was founded. Since 2017, we have successfully passed critical steps with the help of Keensight Capital’s teams: we have tripled our revenue in a four years’ time, structured our offering and our organization, doubled our workforce, accelerated our international growth and made our first add-on. We very grateful for their valuable support. From now on, with the assistance of Eurazeo and Sagard, we will accelerate our growth both in France and internationally in Europe, Asia and North America, accompanying our major French and European clients in all of their cybersecurity needs. We will ensure to maintain our values and mindset, the quality and expertise of our services, commitment to our clients in a thrilling environment for our staff.”

Bérangère Barbe, Agnès Huyghues-Despointes, Guillaume Lefebvre, Partners at Sagard NewGen, said:
“We would be very happy to accompany Théodore-Michel Vrangos and Laurent Charvériat’s outstanding team, alongside Eurazeo, in this new phase of development. I-TRACING has an impressive track record of growth over the last 15 years, offering a broad array of customizable cybersecurity services praised by its clients. This new step will be an opportunity for I-TRACING to leverage Sagard’s relational and commercial network in Europe and North America to pursue a dynamic organic growth and add-ons aimed at strengthening its positioning and technological expertise.”

Philippe Crochet, Managing Partner at Keensight Capital, specifies:
“I-TRACING is a perfect example of the companies we like at Keensight: it provides essential services in a fast-growing market and is an undisputed leader in its industry thanks to a talented and visionary management team. We have actively supported the group in the recent years, particularly outside France with the opening of a new office in Montreal, and in external growth with the strategic acquisition of Idento in 2019, a major player of identity and access management services. At Keensight, we focus on successful companies before, during and after our investment. I-TRACING perfectly fits that description and we are proud of what we have achieved together.”

ABOUT EURAZEO
• Eurazeo is a leading global investment group, with a diversified portfolio of €21.8 billion in assets under management, including €15 billion from third parties, invested in 450 companies. With its considerable private equity, private debt, real estate and infrastructure expertise, Eurazeo accompanies companies of all sizes, supporting their development through the commitment of its nearly 300 professionals and offering in-depth sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and a responsible and stable foothold for transformational growth. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure free of structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long term.
• Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Berlin and Madrid.
• Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.
• ISIN: FR0000121121 – Bloomberg: RF FP – Reuters: EURA.PA

ABOUT I-TRACING
• I-TRACING was founded in 2005 in Paris by Laurent Charvériat and Théodore-Michel Vrangos, who were soon joined by Michel Vujicic and then Laurent Besset. It is France’s leading independent pure-play provider of cybersecurity services, covering all requirements in this field: cyberdefence (CyberSOC, I-CERT, Vulnerability Management Center, offensive audit, 24/7 “follow-the-sun” CyberSOC etc.), consultancy and solution engineering/integration, support and managed services. Idento, which joined the group in 2019, provides consultancy and engineering services in the field of Identity and Access Management (IAM).
• The I-TRACING group comprises the I-TRACING companies based in Puteaux, London, Hong Kong and Montreal, along with IDENTO I-TRACING Group, which has locations in Asnières and Nantes.
• The company generated consolidated revenue of €50 million in 2020, up around 40% compared with 2019, and its current workforce consists of 285 engineers. Its client base consists of more than 230 companies across all business sectors, including 30 CAC 40 companies.
• https://i-tracing.com/
• PRESS CONTACTS: Véronique Loquet (vloquet@alx-communication.com – +33 (0)6 68 42 79 68)

ABOUT SAGARD NEWGEN
• Sagard NewGen aims to support the development of leaders in the healthcare and technology sectors. The fund was established to make majority and minority equity investments, financing the growth strategy of profitable European companies that share its commitment to innovation and sustainability (revenues of up to €150 million).
• Sponsored by Sagard Holdings and supported by Sienna Capital, Sagard NewGen extends the platform’s European base alongside Sagard MidCap. Sagard NewGen provides management teams with bespoke support and a high value-added ecosystem that has truly international reach through its presence in Europe, North America and Asia.
• Sagard has offices in Paris, Montreal, Toronto, New York, San Francisco and Singapore.
• www.sagard.eu
• PRESS CONTACTS: Stéphanie Lacan Tabouis, Publicis Consultants (stephanie.tabouis@publicisconsultants.com – +33 (0)6 03 84 05 03)

ABOUT KEENSIGHT CAPITAL
• Keensight Capital, one of the leading European Growth Buyout firms, is committed to supporting entrepreneurs as they implement their growth strategies. For 20 years, Keensight Capital’s seasoned professionals have leveraged their knowledge of investment and growth industries to invest for the long term in profitable companies with high growth potential and revenues in the range of €10 million to €300 million.
• Drawing on its expertise in the Tech and Healthcare sectors, Keensight identifies the best investment opportunities in Europe and works closely with management teams to develop and achieve their strategic vision.
• www.keensightcapital.com
• PRESS CONTACTS: Anne de Bonnefon – abonnefon@keensightcapital.com – +33 (0)1 83 79 87 37
• Citigate Dewe Rogerson: Yoann Besse / Estelle Bleuze – estelle.bleuze@citigatedewerogerson.com – +33 (0)7 63 73 05 67

EURAZEO CONTACTS
Virginie Christnacht
HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS vchristnacht@eurazeo.com
+33 (0)1 44 15 76 44
Pierre Bernardin
HEAD OF INVESTOR RELATIONS pbernardin@eurazeo.com
+33 (0)1 44 15 16 76
PRESS CONTACT
David Sturken
MAITLAND/AMO dsturken@maitland.co.uk+44 (0)7990 595 913