Thoma Bravo to Buy Magnet Forensics in $1.3B Transaction

Thoma Bravo’s shopping spree in the cybersecurity lane is showing no signs of slowing down.

The private equity giant has announced plans to spend $1.3 billion to acquire Canadian software firm Magnet Forensics, a deal that expands Thoma Bravo’s push into the lucrative cybersecurity category.

Magnet Forensics, based in Waterloo, markets a suite of tools in the digital forensics and incident response space to help businesses hunt for early signs of data breaches.

Thoma Bravo said its newly created Morpheus unit will acquire Magnet Forensics for approximately $1.3 billion and take the company private.

Once the deal closes, Thoma Bravo said the plan is to combine Magnet Forensics with Grayshift, a third company that also sells digital forensics software and tools. Thoma Bravo  has majority control of Grayshift after a strategic investment last July.

With the two combined entities, Thoma Bravo’s ambition is to create “a powerful end-to-end digital investigations platform” for public safety agencies to work on cybercrime cases. 

Grayshift markets mobile device digital forensics tools to help with lawful access and extraction.  

The transaction is expected to close by the second quarter this year.

Over recent years, Thoma Bravo has bought into the cybersecurity business in a big way, shelling out billions to acquire Ping Identity ($2.8 billion deal), SailPoint ($6.9 billion all-cash) and Sophos ($3.9 billion).

The private equity firm’s portfolio also includes Imperva, LogRhythm, AppOmni, Proofpoint and Venafi.

Related: KKR to Acquire Barracuda Networks From Thoma Bravo

Related: Thoma Bravo to Acquire Ping Identity for $2.8 Billion

Related: Thoma Bravo to Take SailPoint Private in $6.9B All-Cash Deal 

Related: Thoma Bravo to Acquire Sophos for $3.9 Billion

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