Checkmarx to Be Acquired by Hellman & Friedman
Insight Partners has agreed to part with application and software security company Checkmarx in a billion-dollar deal.
Once the deal is complete, Checkmarx will be owned by global private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, though Insight Partners will retain a substantial minority interest.
Checkmarx is to be acquired at a valuation of $1.5bn, making the planned transaction the largest acquisition of an application security company to date.
Among Checkmarx’s 1,400 customers in 70 countries are 40 Fortune 100 organizations, including SAP, Samsung, and Salesforce.com.
Since being founded in 2006, Israel-based Checkmarx has been led by CEO Emmanuel Benzaquen and CTO and founder Maty Siman. Currently, the company employs more than 700 employees in 22 countries.
“This acquisition is a clear testament to Checkmarx’s inimitable global team who have ensured our leadership position in software security, as well as to the significant role our technology plays in the broader cybersecurity industry,” said Benzaquen.
The CEO went on to say that the company’s planned partnership with Hellman & Friedman would enable Checkmarx to reach even dizzier heights of achievement.
He said: “More than 40 of the Fortune 100 have turned to Checkmarx to mitigate risk, secure code, and embed security into every aspect of their software development. We are thrilled to partner with H&F in our journey that takes our ‘software equals security’ vision to the next level.”
Insight Partners managing director Richard Wells praised the progress Checkmarx has made in recent years.
“Even before we invested in the Company in 2015, we have been continuously impressed by the leadership to come out of this team of game changers and innovators,” said Wells.
“Maty and Emmanuel are two of the cybersecurity industry’s top operators and we have been thrilled to have supported their stratospheric growth over the last five years. We will remain active supporters and vocal champions of the Checkmarx team.”
Evercore acted as lead financial advisor and Stifel as advisor for this transaction. RBC acted as lead financial advisor and Simpson Thacher as legal counsel to H&F. HFN acted as legal counsel to Checkmarx, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher acted as legal counsel to Insight Partners.
This post Checkmarx to Be Acquired by Hellman & Friedman originally appeared on InfoSecurity Magazine.
