Israeli-Founded Cybersecurity Company Imperva To Be Acquired For $2 Billion

Israeli-founded, US-based cybersecurity company Imperva has entered an agreement to be acquired by American private equity firm Thoma Bravo LLC for about $2.1 billion.

Imperva was founded in 2002 by prominent Israeli entrepreneurs Shlomo Kramer, a co-founder of Israeli cybersecurity giant Check Point and Tel Aviv-based Cato Networks, Mickey Boodaei, a co-founder and CEO of Trusteer which was sold to IBM in 2013 for over $700 million, and Amichai Shulman, a cybersecurity researcher and investor. The company is headquartered in Redwood Shores, California and employs approximately 500 people in its Israel offices.

Imperva provides information cybersecurity solutions “on-premises, in the cloud and across hybrid environments” and its Incapsula, SecureSphere, and CounterBreach product lines – all named for companies acquired by Imperva over the years – “help organizations protect websites, applications, APIs, and databases from cyber attacks,” the company says.

The protection is from both “theft and ever-evolving extortion attacks like DDoS and ransomware,” Imperva says, adding that its technology provides “uses sophisticated user tracking and classification to detect and block cyberattacks, botnets, unauthorized users and malicious insiders.”

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Thoma Bravo, which focuses on the software and technology-enabled services sectors, is set to pay $55.75 per share in cash for Imperva, a 29.5 percent premium to its closing price on Tuesday last week. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year or early next year.

Imperva’s board of directors unanimously approved the agreement.

Imperva CEO and president Chris Hylen said in a statement that “Thoma Bravo has an excellent track record of supporting and adding value to leading cybersecurity companies, and we are delighted to bring on a partner with their caliber of strategic expertise.

“This transaction will provide immediate and substantial value to Imperva stockholders,” he added.

The agreement sparked a number of investigations by shareholder rights law firms into whether the Imperva board failed to satisfy its duties to the company shareholders, “including whether the board adequately pursued alternatives to the acquisition and whether the board obtained the best price possible for Imperva shares,” one such firm, Johnson Fistel, LLP, said in a statement shortly after the deal was announced.

The investigations into the deal are expected to verify whether there was a fair process, as “at least one [Wall Street] analyst set a target price of $65.00 per IMPV [Imperva] share,” another law firm said.

Thoma Bravo has plans to take Imperva private, and the company will continue to be led by its current executive team, the companies said.

Seth Boro, a managing partner at Thoma Bravo said the US firm has “long admired Imperva’s innovative products and strong market position…. Imperva is ahead of the curve from the rest of the cybersecurity industry, and we’re thrilled with this exciting partnership.”

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“Digital transformations are occurring in virtually every industry and at accelerating speeds. Software applications and data are at the epicenter of this new digital economy and are increasingly under cyberattack. We believe Imperva’s market leading technology will continue to play a huge role in protecting the broader digital economy,” added Chip Virnig, a partner at Thoma Bravo. “Our expertise and track record investing in cybersecurity fits squarely with Imperva’s long-term roadmap, and we look forward to advancing the company’s market position in this rapidly-growing security segment.”

Imperva says it has over 5,200 customers and more than 500 partners in over 100 countries across the world.