Private equity giant Thomas Bravo he’s got was announced that the security intelligence and event management (SIEM) company. LogRhythm will merge with Exabeama competitive cybersecurity firm backed by the likes of Cisco and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
SIEM is the business of using real-time data collected from servers, network devices and applications to flag abnormal activity and prevent potential security threats before they escalate. Grounding in space is pervasive. News of LogRhythm and Exabeam merger comes on same day as Palo Alto Networks confirmed was buying the assets of IBM’s SIEM business, QRadar, which IBM had acquired in 2011. It also follows Cisco $28 billion megadeal to acquire SIEM giant Splunk, a deal that closed in March.
More broadly, the cybersecurity space is abuzz with M&A activity: Earlier this month, Akamai revealed it was acquiring API security firm Noname for $450 million. Permira has bought a majority stake in digital fraud detection startup BioCatch at a $1.3 billion valuation. and Thoma Bravo reared its head again to take cybersecurity firm Darktrace private in a $5 billion deal.
Elsewhere, cloud security platform Wiz has hit a whopping $12 billion valuation in a $1 billion round of funding, an investment it says will essentially be used to acquire other cybersecurity startups.
LogRhythm, for its part, had raised about $126 million before Thoma Bravo stepped in and acquired a majority stake in 2018 for an unknown figure. Exabeam, meanwhile, raised its total funding to nearly $400 million in its $200 million Series F round in 2021. Thoma Bravo did not disclose Exabeam’s valuation in this merger. Exabeam was previously valued at $2.4 billion. However, many companies’ valuations have plummeted due to the big post-pandemic correction, and Exabeam has taken a few hits. This Post on Reddit details of layoffs from seven months ago, for example.
As with almost every field these days, artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly pivotal role in the cybersecurity space, and it’s the “AI-based security solutions” that LogRhythm CEO Chris O’Malley says are the which Exabeam brings to the table.
“Together, our expertise and shared strategic vision will accelerate innovative AI-driven cybersecurity solutions for customers around the world,” O’Malley said in a statement. “Vigilant CISOs have been eagerly awaiting the emergence of a powerful, customer-obsessed, singularly driven global leader in AI-based security functions – offering a better alternative to the frustratingly complex options on the market today. That day has come.”
Thoma Bravo said it expects the merger to close in the third quarter of 2024.
