WatchGuard Technologies announced that it has entered into a definitive
agreement with Vector Capital to make a large new equity investment in the
business, acquire interests previously owned by Francisco Partners and other
co-investors, and become the company's majority shareholder. Financial terms
were not disclosed.
Founded in 1996, WatchGuard has made enterprise-grade security
accessible to all types of organizations for more than 25 years. The company's
unique focus on delivering best-of-breed security offerings and enabling
Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to easily deploy and administer these
solutions has fueled mainstream adoption of advanced cybersecurity.
During Vector Capital's and Francisco Partners' joint ownership
for more than a decade, WatchGuard transformed from a trusted network security
vendor to a full-fledged cybersecurity platform provider. Today, the company's
Unified Security PlatformTM enables more than 17,000 MSPs to protect the
environments, users, and networks of more than 250,000 businesses
worldwide.
Building on its prior ownership, Vector Capital is well-positioned
to partner with WatchGuard's management team to further accelerate the
company's growth. WatchGuard will continue to invest in critical areas
including but not limited to Cloud transformation, secure access service edge
(SASE), extended detection and response (XDR), managed detection and response
(MDR), and further innovation in security automation and simplification for
MSPs.
"Vector firmly believes in WatchGuard's portfolio, partners,
employees, and vision. This transaction is a testament to WatchGuard's current
success and the opportunity ahead," said Prakash Panjwani, CEO of WatchGuard
Technologies. "We believe Vector is well positioned to further accelerate
WatchGuard's growth strategy while preserving our company culture and
commitment to security delivery through the MSP community."
"We are thrilled to continue the journey we started with
WatchGuard's employees, partners, and customers over a decade ago," said Alex
Slusky, Founder, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Vector
Capital. "We are proud of the foundation of success we've built with
WatchGuard's management team and look forward to fueling the next phase of
growth and transformation for the company."
"MSPs represent the future of security delivery, but to be
successful, they need a bespoke platform built for their needs," continued
Sandy Gill, Managing Director of Vector Capital. "WatchGuard is uniquely
positioned to lead the market in enabling those MSPs with its Unified Security
Platform. We are excited to further invest both organically and via
acquisitions in the company's mission to deliver security-focused MSPs one
vendor, one platform, and one vision to build their business upon."
"WatchGuard has established itself as a leading cybersecurity
company under our joint ownership, with a relevant product portfolio, strong
partner ecosystem, and talented team of employees," said Ben Ball, Partner of
Francisco Partners. "We are proud of our role in supporting WatchGuard's
transformation, and we look forward to following the company's ongoing success
as they continue to pave the way for simplified security when the industry
needs it most."
The transaction is expected to close by the end of Q3 2022,
subject to customary conditions.