SafeNet acquired by Gemalto

Gemalto in a definitive agreement has acquired Safenet from Vector capital. The deal was finalized for the amount $890 million on a debt free/cash free basis. The purchase price is self-funded with $440 million from available cash, and $450 million drawn from existing long-term credit facilities.

SafeNet provides an extensive portfolio of data protection solutions including HSM1 advanced cryptographic key management systems, encryption technologies for civilian applications, authentication servers and authentication as a service, as well as sophisticated software license management and monetization solutions.

"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. 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," said Olivier Piou, CEO, Gemalto.

"The combination of our portfolios will allow customers to have access to world's leading security products for mobile and cloud, delivering best-in-class protection of data and identities. This transaction will accelerate the delivery of Gemalto's security solutions to the enterprise while also making SafeNet's data protection solutions accessible to the banking and telecom sectors," said Prakash Panjwani, President and CEO, SafeNet. " Closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the fourth quarter, following approval from the relevant regulatory and antitrust authorities.

Once the acquisition is completed, SafeNet will reinforce Gemalto's identity and access management business. It will become part of Gemalto's Payment and Identity segment, and its Platforms and Services activity, which account respectively for €1,329 million and €715 million of the 2013 pro forma revenue.