Equiteq advises on deal in cyber security services landscape
M&A consultancy Equiteq has closed its first deal mandate of the year. The firm’s UK team advised Integrity360 with the successful acquisition of Caretower, a smaller security services specialist.
Established in 2005, Integrity360 is one of the largest cyber security consultancies in Ireland, and the fastest growing in the UK. With offices in Dublin, London and New York, the company offers a complete end-to-end security services offering to its more-than-300 clients, covering their security from every angle. Its services include managed security, cyber security testing, incident response, security integration and cyber risk and assurance services.
Eight months after attracting growth capital from August Equity, Integrity360 has added an 80 experts Caretower’s offices in London, and Sofia, Bulgaria. Following the integration of Caretower, Integrity360 has over 300 employees including 200 cybersecurity engineers, analysts, consultants and specialists.
Ian Brown, Executive Chairman at Integrity360, said of the news, “This is a very exciting transaction for us and we couldn’t be more delighted to welcome the team from Caretower to Integrity360. The enhanced group is now clearly positioned as the leading independent cybersecurity services specialist throughout the UK and Ireland.”
Founded in 1998, Caretower offers managed security services, penetration testing, security consultancy and managed incident response services. It works with an array of vendors including Microsoft, Sophos, Kaspersky, Check Point, Forcepoint, Barracuda Networks among others. For the 2021 calendar year, Caretower reported sales of £28 million.
Deal advisory firm Equiteq advised Integrity360 and its private equity backer August Equity on the acquisition of Caretower. With offices in Europe, the US, Asia and Australia, Equiteq is one of the world’s larger M&A consultancies dedicated exclusively to the professional services landscape.
Jerome Glynn-Smith, Managing Director at Equiteq, stated, “We’re very pleased to have advised August Equity and the experienced team at Integrity360 to come together with high quality UK cybersecurity specialist Caretower. This creates a significant player of scale and differentiated cybersecurity managed solutions for the European region.”
