Israel’s Checkmarx To Be Acquired At $1.15B Valuation

Global private equity firm Hellman & Friedman announced on Monday that it will acquire Israeli cybersecurity company Checkmarx from Insight Partners, which will continue to own a substantial minority interest. Insight Partners previously acquired Checkmarx in 2015 for $84 million.

The deal represents the largest acquisition of an application security company in Israel to date. Previously, the largest cybersecurity deal was in January when Insight Partners confirmed that it would acquire Israeli IoT security firm Armis at a company valuation of $1.1 billion.

Checkmarx was founded in 2006 by cybersecurity expert Maty Siman, who serves as CTO, and is led by CEO Emmanuel Benzaquen. The company employs more than 700 people across the world and works with over 1,400 customers in 70 countries.

“This acquisition is a clear testament to Checkmarx’s inimitable global team who have ensured our leadership position in software security, as well as to the significant role our technology plays in the broader cybersecurity industry,” said Benzaquen. “With more corporations leveraging software development to scale their businesses than ever before, executives are acutely aware of the increased risks caused by software exposure. More than 40 of the Fortune 100 have turned to Checkmarx to mitigate risk, secure code, and embed security into every aspect of their software development.”

Hellman & Friedman partner Tarim Wasim said the company was “thrilled to be joining forces with Emmanuel, Maty, and the entire Checkmarx team.”

“As cybersecurity threats continue to intensify, we strongly believe that embedding security early in the software development lifecycle is critical. Only one company – Checkmarx – has the breadth of products, developer-centric DNA, and culture of relentless innovation to serve the entire software security market,” he added.

“Checkmarx technology is mission-critical to any business that is developing or integrating software, and from even before we invested in the company in 2015, we have been continuously impressed by the leadership to come out of this team of game changers and innovators,” Insight Partners’ managing director, Richard Wells, said. “Maty and Emmanuel are two of the cybersecurity industry’s top operators and we have been thrilled to have supported their stratospheric growth over the last five years.”