Cybersecurity Acquisitions in Georgia

London-headquartered Axiom GRC has acquired AssurancePoint, an Atlanta-based SOC and ISO audit and advisory firm, to strengthen its North American cyber compliance and assurance capabilities. AssurancePoint will integrate with Axiom's U.S. platform IS Partners to expand audit capacity, scale recurring audit delivery, and deepen the company's U.S. delivery footprint.

Intelligent Technical Solutions (ITS), a Tower Arch Capital portfolio company, has acquired Atlanta-based Black Breach to expand ITS's managed cybersecurity and compliance capabilities. The deal was completed in partnership with Black Breach founder Justin Shanken and financed by Deerpath Capital; terms were not disclosed.

Sophos completed the all-cash acquisition of Secureworks for approximately $859 million, taking Secureworks private and delisting its common stock from Nasdaq. The deal expands Sophos' managed detection and response (MDR) and XDR capabilities by adding Secureworks' Taegis platform, Counter Threat Unit threat intelligence, and security operations teams to Sophos' portfolio.

PSG Equity purchased Elron Ventures' secondary stake in IronScales at an approximate company valuation of $340 million. The secondary sale generated estimated proceeds of $26 million for Elron and reflects a roughly 23x return on Elron's original investment; IronScales is an AI-powered email security provider.

Crisis24, a GardaWorld company, has acquired Atlanta-based Topo.ai, maker of the TopoONE critical event management platform. The acquisition adds real-time visualization, workflow automation and analytics capabilities to Crisis24's integrated risk management and intelligence services to strengthen its critical event management offering.

Thoma Bravo has completed a strategic growth investment in Grayshift, a U.S.-based provider of mobile device digital forensics solutions. The capital will support Grayshift’s product innovation, international expansion, and potential strategic acquisitions; existing investors PeakEquity Partners and C&B Capital will remain shareholders.

Apptega, an Atlanta-based cybersecurity and compliance platform, received a $37 million growth investment from growth equity firm Mainsail Partners. The capital will be used to scale Apptega’s platform, expand into new markets and MSSP channels, and accelerate product development and team growth; Momentum Cyber advised on the transaction.

iC Consult Group, a Munich-headquartered IAM consultancy backed by The Carlyle Group, has acquired SecureITsource, a Roswell, Georgia-based provider of Identity & Access Management (IAM) services. The acquisition expands iC Consult’s presence in North America and strengthens its global IAM service and managed-services capabilities; financial terms were not disclosed.

Clearlake Capital has made a significant equity investment in BeyondTrust, joining existing investor Francisco Partners as institutional shareholders. The capital will support BeyondTrust’s continued investment in cloud products, innovation, recurring revenue growth and its targeted acquisition strategy.

PeakEquity Partners led a minority growth investment in Grayshift, an Atlanta-area provider of mobile device digital forensics best known for its GrayKey solution. The capital will be used to accelerate sales and marketing, expand R&D and engineering, broaden product offerings, and increase global awareness; Tom Noonan (Chairman of TEN Holdings and founding partner at TechOperators) will work with Grayshift’s management at the board level.

Sysnet Global Solutions has acquired the Managed Compliance Solutions (MCS) division of ControlScan, Inc., expanding its payment security and compliance offerings for SMBs. The deal—completed as an add-on to Sysnet's PE-backed platform—boosts Sysnet's scale in PCI compliance and managed security services across merchant and payments ecosystems; terms were not disclosed.

Affiliates of private equity firm ZMC have acquired Simeio Solutions, a leading Identity and Access Management (IAM) provider, from Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. Terms were not disclosed; ZMC said it will support Simeio's growth by investing in product and technology innovation and scaling the company's delivery platform.

GBG Plc, the UK-headquartered identity data intelligence specialist, has agreed to acquire Atlanta-based IDology for $300 million in an all-cash transaction. The deal gives GBG a strong foothold in North America, expanding its identity verification and fraud-prevention capabilities while retaining IDology's senior management and employee base.

Barracuda Networks, the Campbell, California–based network security vendor, acquired Atlanta-based web security SaaS startup Purewire in a cash-and-stock deal. The acquisition brings Purewire's cloud/web security capabilities and engineering talent into Barracuda as the company expands from on-premise appliances into cloud-based security services.

Motorola, Inc. signed a definitive agreement to acquire AirDefense, a privately held wireless LAN security provider. AirDefense will become a wholly owned subsidiary and be integrated into Motorola's enterprise mobility business, with Motorola planning to maintain AirDefense's Alpharetta, Georgia headquarters; terms were not disclosed.

Secure Computing Corp. is acquiring e-mail security vendor CipherTrust Inc. in a transaction valued at roughly $274 million (approximately $195 million cash plus 10 million Secure Computing shares). The deal expands Secure Computing’s Internet gateway security appliance portfolio — incorporating CipherTrust’s IronMail appliances and TrustedSource reputation service — and will move CipherTrust CEO Jay Chaudhry into a Secure Computing executive role.