![Johannes Reichel, Partner and Co-Head of Technology at EQT](https://imagevars.gulfnews.com/2024/08/09/Johannes-Reichel--Partner-and-Co-Head-of-Technology-at-EQT_191367f30a6_medium.jpg)
Dubai: Acronis and EQT have announced that the EQT X fund will acquire a majority stake in the cybersecurity and data protection platform Acronis. The founders, management, and existing investors – including funds and accounts managed by CVC, Springcoast and BlackRock Private Equity Partners – will remain as significant minority shareholders, a media release said. Acronis is valued in the transaction above the last growth funding round, which was completed in 2022.
Founded in 2003, Acronis is a leading IT solutions vendor for Managed Service Providers, offering a natively integrated, highly efficient cybersecurity and data protection platform, the media release said. As data and workloads are growing and businesses increasingly recognize the importance of cybersecurity, Acronis enables customers to outsource IT capabilities while ensuring high standards of data security, integrity and reliability. Through its Managed Service Providers channel, Acronis is well-positioned to continue scaling its network rapidly. With 15 offices around the globe and more than 1,700 employees, Acronis’ network spans over 150 countries enabling over 20,000 Service Providers to protect over 750,000 businesses, says the media release.
Johannes Reichel, Partner and Co-Head of Technology within EQT’s Private Equity advisory team, said, "Acronis is a strongly positioned cybersecurity and data protection software platform with a clear value proposition to Managed Service Providers. EQT has followed the company’s journey for many years and continues to be impressed by its performance and innovative strength. We are very excited to partner with Acronis, the management team and existing investors on its next phase of growth.”
Ezequiel Steiner, CEO of Acronis, stated, "We are thrilled to have EQT as a major shareholder to support our strategic expansion and share our vision for growth. We would like to thank our existing investors for their support to date and are pleased that many will remain invested as we move forward. But most of all, I’d like to thank the Acronis team for their work in getting us to this stage.”
Commenting on Acronis’ product suite, Phil Goodwin, research vice president of IDC, said: “Data protection is foundational to cybersecurity, and the two are increasingly tightly integrated. Acronis’ architecture of integrated data protection, cybersecurity, and remote management in a single, customizable platform enables MSPs and corporate IT departments to establish robust cyber preparedness for their business with simplicity and reliability.”
The completion of this transaction is pending customary regulatory approvals and is anticipated to take place in Q1-Q2 2025. Acronis was advised by Deutsche Bank (financial), Willkie Farr & Gallagher (legal), the media release said.