The Apax Funds to acquire Coalfire
The Apax Funds have announced an agreement to acquire Coalfire, a provider of cybersecurity advisory and assessment services.
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Colorado, USA, Coalfire helps clients develop scalable cybersecurity programmes to avert threats, close gaps, and effectively manage cyber risk. The opportunity is to back a fastgrowing business with a strong management team to accelerate growth across compliance and cybersecurity service offerings, while benefitting from secular growth driven by increased complexity and awareness of cybercrime.
AGA, whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange, provides investors with access to the investment expertise of Apax Partners through its investments in a diversified portfolio of private equity funds advised by Apax Partners as well as derived investments in debt and equity.
Funds advised by Apax Partners to acquire Coalfire from The Carlyle Group and The Chertoff Group
Investment to help Coalfire accelerate growth across compliance and cybersecurity service offerings
Westminster, Colorado and New York, December 13, 2019 – Funds advised by Apax Partners (the “Apax Funds”) today announced they have reached an agreement to acquire Coalfire, a provider of cybersecurity advisory and assessment services, from The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) and The Chertoff Group. The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2020, subject to regulatory approval. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Founded in 2001, Coalfire is a cybersecurity advisor that helps organizations avert threats, close gaps, and effectively manage cyber risk. By providing independent, tailored advice and services that span the cybersecurity lifecycle, Coalfire helps clients develop scalable programs that improve their security posture. The company today has more than 1,800 government and commercial clients and extensive cloud security experience, working with seven of the top ten SaaS providers. Coalfire’s more than 730 employees operate from 11 locations in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The investment from the Apax Funds will support Coalfire in accelerating its growth. Rohan Haldea, Partner at Apax Partners, said: “Coalfire is an established and highly-respected cybersecurity advisory and assessment services firm that is well-positioned for further growth due to cybersecurity trends and the vision of its strong management team. The Apax Funds’ investment will assist the company in particular by increasing Coalfire’s investment in technology; continuing to invest in thought leadership, especially with respect to securing cloud environments; and deepening capabilities across assurance standards while scaling its penetration testing and cyber risk services business.”
Tom McAndrew, Coalfire CEO, said: “We are thrilled with our new partnership with Apax, which will help drive our growth plans while continuing our commitment to our customers, people, and core values. The leadership, support, and investment provided by Carlyle, Chertoff, and Baird Capital have been instrumental in our success over the last four years, and we are excited to begin this new chapter.”
Carlyle Managing Director Steve Bailey said: “It has been a great pleasure working with Tom and his team, along with The Chertoff Group, to support Coalfire’s tremendous growth over the past four years as we leveraged our cybersecurity investing experience. We wish them much continued success.”
Haldea added: “We look forward to working with the Coalfire team as they broaden their services to support customers in navigating an environment that is characterized by an increasing range of cybersecurity challenges.” The Apax Funds have a successful track record of partnering with tech-enabled services businesses, including Engineering, EVRY, Fractal Analytics, GlobalLogic, Lexitas, ThoughtWorks, and Zensar.
William Blair served as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins served as legal advisor to Coalfire. PwC served as accounting advisor to Carlyle. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to the Apax Funds.
The Carlyle Group invested in Coalfire in 2015 through its U.S. Equity Opportunity Fund I, a $1.1 billion U.S. middle-market fund.
Contact details
Investor enquiries
Sarah Page IR Manager – AGA Telephone: +44 (0)20 7666 6573
Email: sarah.page@apax.com
Media enquiries
Andrew Kenny
Head of Communications
Telephone:+44 (0) 20 7872 6371
Email: andrew.kenny@apax.com
About Apax Global Alpha Limited
AGA is a Guernsey registered closed-ended collective investment scheme incorporated as a non-cellular company that listed on the London Stock Exchange on 15 June 2015. It is regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.
AGA’s objective is to provide shareholders with capital appreciation from its investment portfolio and regular dividends. The Company is targeting an annualised Total Return, across economic cycles, of 12-15% (net of fees and expenses) including a dividend yield of 5% of Net Asset Value.
The investment policy of the Company is to make Private Equity investments in Apax Funds, and Derived Investments which are investments in equities and debt derived from the insights gained via Apax Partners’ Private Equity activities. The Company’s portfolio is expected to be allocated in approximately equal proportions between Private Equity and Derived Investments, although the investment mix will fluctuate over time due to market conditions, investment opportunities, cash flow requirements, the dividend policy and other factors. Further information regarding the Company and its publications are available on the Company’s website at www.apaxglobalalpha.com.
About Apax Partners LLP
Apax Partners is a leading global private equity advisory firm. Over its more than 40-year history, Apax Partners has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments of c.€40 billion. Funds advised by Apax Partners invest in companies across four global sectors of Tech & Telco, Services, Healthcare and Consumer. These funds provide long_term equity financing to build and strengthen world_class companies. For further information about Apax Partners, please visit www.apax.com.
Apax Partners is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.