OpenText Reinforces Cloud Data Protection with Carbonite Purchase
The push to secure cloud data has made cybersecurity one of the most active acquisition markets of 2019.
Just last week, Canadian enterprise data firm OpenText agreed to buy Boston-based cloud security firm Carbonite for £1.1 billion.
Over the last few years, Carbonite has transitioned from a traditional data backup business to a defensive data security company, and has raised its profile to potential suitors with several acquisitions – including endpoint security company Webroot for £473 million in February.
The acquisition puts an end to takeover rumours, which have been swirling in recent months as multiple private-equity firms showed an interest in buying the firm. OpenText are paying £1.10 billion, which at £18 per share represents a 78% premium on Carbonite’s September 5th closing price.
OpenText’s portfolio includes a broad range of cloud solutions that help enterprises organise, communicate, store, and protect data. The addition of Carbonite will bolster the firm’s expertise in endpoint security and backup protection, complementing existing security offerings EnCase Endpoint Investigator and EnCase Endpoint Security.
“Cloud platforms and secured, smart end-points are essential information management technologies as businesses transform into Industry 4.0,” said OpenText CEO Mark Barrenechea in a statement. “This acquisition will further strengthen OpenText as a leader in cloud platforms, complete end-point security and protection, and will open a new route to connect with customers, through Carbonite’s marquee SMB/prosumer channel and products.”
The acquisition marks another purchase in a year when cyber security companies have been snapped up like never before to help guard against vulnerabilities created by technologies like cloud, artificial intelligence, and IoT.
The first quarter of 2019 alone accounted for more than $7 billion in cybersecurity deals, according to Cybersecurity Ventures, and since then the activity has continued.
Several of these deals, like OpenText’s Carbonite purchase and HP’s recent acquisition of Bromium, have seen large enterprise software firms buy smaller cybersecurity specialists to bolster their own data protection capabilities.