Cybersecurity remains a white-hot space for investors, and in the latest deal, EQT is taking a majority stake in Acronis, a security company that specializes in data protection, cloud and integrated security solutions for managed service providers (who in turn resell services to consumers) and corporate IT teams.
Financial terms of the deal — including the size and value of the stake, and the enterprise value of Acronis — are not being disclosed. (If and when we find more detail, we’ll update the post.) EQT and Acronis say that the majority stake values the Acronis at a value higher than its last investment. That was in 2022 and valued Acronis at $3.5 billion.
For some context on growth, Acronis itself says that today its solutions are used by 20,000 service providers and more than 750,000 businesses. In 2022, it had said it had 5.5 million “home users” and 500,000 companies, and in 2021, it said it had 10,000 service providers on its books. Employees now stand at 2,000, from 1,700 in 2022, so overall it appears to have grown.
In 2021, the company told TechCrunch that it was profitable. It has raised more than $600 million in equity and debt over the years prior to this latest deal. (Investors included BlackRock, CVC, Goldman Sachs and more. We’re also asking who remains on the cap table with this latest deal.)
We have reached out to EQT, Acronis and its founder and former CEO, Serg Bell (who changed his name from Serguei Beloussov in 2021, for further comment.
This deal is long in the making and underscores how private equity continues to be a very common exit option for enterprise technology companies at a time when the IPO window largely remains closed.
Acronis has been around since 2003, originally getting its start in Singapore before reincorporating in Switzerland. It originally started as a spinoff of Russia-founded, virtualization specialist Parallels with a focus on data recovery and backup. Over the years, it has expanded into a one-stop shop of services that include continuous data protection, cloud security, endpoint protection, patch management, anti-malware, and more. Its competitors include Commvault, Veritas and others.
Acronis will continue to operate, now with major investment from EQT behind it.
“We are thrilled to have EQT as a major shareholder to support our strategic expansion and share our vision for growth,” said Ezequiel Steiner, current CEO of Acronis, in a statement. “We would like to thank our existing investors for their support to date and are pleased that many will remain invested as we move forward. But most of all, I’d like to thank the Acronis team for their work in getting us to this stage.”
“Acronis is a strongly positioned cybersecurity and data protection software platform with a clear value proposition to Managed Service Providers,” added Johannes Reichel, partner and co-head of technology for EQT’s PE team. ” advisory team, said: “EQT has followed the company’s journey for many years and continues to be impressed by its performance and innovative strength. We are very excited to partner with Acronis, the management team and existing investors on its next phase of growth.”