European security firm Gemalto said on Friday that it has agreed to buy data protection firm SafeNet for $890 million in cash.
Gemalto says the move will help expand its footprint in cloud data, software and transaction security, and adds core network data protection technologies to its authentication solutions.
News of the acquisition comes less than two months after SafeNet named Prakash Panjwani as the company’s new President and Chief Executive Officer.
Headquartered in Belcamp, Maryland, SafeNet has over 1,500 employees and had revenues of $337 million and profit from operations of $35 million in 2013. The company predicted revenues of $370 million and profit from operations of $51 million for 2014.
SafeNet offers data protection solutions including encryption key management systems, encryption technologies for civilian applications, authentication servers and authentication as a service, and software license management and monetization solutions.
With more than 25,000 customers in over 100 countries, SafeNet says that its technology protects over 80% of the world’s intra-bank fund transfers.
According to Gemalto, SafeNet’s products complement Gemalto’s embedded software and portable secure elements and enhance Gemalto’s Identity and Access Management and Platforms & Services offerings—lines of business that accounted for €1,329 million and €715 million of the pro forma revenue in 2013 respectively.
“The opportunity to acquire SafeNet has come at exactly the right time, as we have just entered into our new multi-year development plan and there is a perfect fit between Gemalto’s ‘security at the edge’ and SafeNet’s ‘security at the core’ capabilities,” Olivier Piou, Gemalto CEO, said in a prepared statement. “This will enable us to further accelerate the deployment of strong security solutions in the Enterprise sector, and expand our technologies and growth opportunities in protecting online access. Overall, our global leadership in digital security will be reinforced.”
