Asset management giant TPG Inc. is buying the government cybersecurity business of Austin-based Forcepoint LLC from Forcepoint's owner, Francisco Partners.
The deal is valued at $2.45 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the deal this morning.
The deal, expected to close in Q4 this year, comes about three years after Francisco Partners agreed to buy Forcepoint from Raytheon Technologies Corp., a deal reportedly valued at about $1.5 billion. Importantly, that was the price tag attached to the entire company, not just the Global Governments and Critical Infrastructure unit, or G2CI, that TPG (Nasdaq: TPG) is now acquiring.
The new transaction will split Forcepoint's Commercial and G2CI businesses, establishing G2CI as an independent entity. The companies say the deal will help Forcepoint G2CI to operate with more flexibility.
Forcepoint's Commercial business, focused on cloud-delivered security and connectivity, will continue to be owned by Francisco Partners and its existing co-investors.
"It’s our mission to support the national security and intelligence communities by providing trusted, data-driven security solutions that enable them to collaborate and conduct mission-critical work securely and effectively," stated Sean Berg, president of Forcepoint G2CI. "TPG has a long history of carving-out, building, and scaling world-class cybersecurity companies. We’re confident that this partnership, along with continued support from Francisco Partners, will provide us the resources and expertise to strengthen our position as a partner of choice for government agencies."
Forcepoint, led by CEO Manny Rivelo, was formed after Raytheon in 2015 acquired Websense, an Austin-based network security provider, in a $1.9 billion deal.
