JPMorgan Chase Bank, Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Goldman Sachs, UBS Investment Bank, Bank of America, Barclays and Jefferies are arranging debt financing in support of Clearlake Capital Group’s new equity investment in RSA Security.
RSA is a global provider of cybersecurity software and governance risk and compliance management software solutions to enterprises. With this investment, Clearlake will become an equal partner with Symphony Technology Group, which initially acquired RSA from Dell Technologies in 2020 alongside Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board. Ontario Teachers’ will remain a significant minority shareholder. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“We are thrilled to partner with Clearlake as RSA continues to focus on providing best-in-class cybersecurity and risk management solutions to enterprises across the world,” Rohit Ghai, CEO of RSA, said. “Clearlake has a proven track record of enhancing value at software companies, especially in cybersecurity and risk management. We believe that their investment is a validation of our business momentum and will further strengthen our ability to grow organically as well as execute upon a compelling M&A strategy.”
“RSA is one of the most recognized and well-respected software franchises in both the cybersecurity and risk management markets. It is poised to benefit from several near-term market growth drivers, including the increased and urgent demand for enterprises to use technology to address challenges in security, risk management and fraud prevention,” Behdad Eghbali, co-founder and managing partner of Clearlake Capital Group, and Prashant Mehrotra, a partner at Clearlake Capital Group, said in a joint statement. “We are pleased to invest in the recent momentum in the company. RSA participates in the high growth cybersecurity and GRC markets, both of which have been critical and targeted investment themes representing significant market opportunities for Clearlake’s technology and software sector investing activity. We look forward to leveraging our proprietary O.P.S. framework to support the management team and its many talented and dedicated employees to accelerate the growth of the company.”
“Clearlake’s recognition and enthusiasm about the increasing importance of RSA’s solutions in the digital age, as well as their distinguished history of investing in leading software companies, made them a natural choice in helping to support RSA during its next phase of growth,” William Chisholm, managing partner of Symphony Technology Group, said. “In partnership with Clearlake, we look forward to building upon the company’s recent successes and look forward to accelerating RSA’s growth by continuing to help customers address their most critical risk management and cybersecurity needs.”
Goldman Sachs served as lead financial advisor and Morgan Stanley served as financial advisor to RSA. UBS Investment Bank, J.P. Morgan Securities, BofA Securities, Barclays and Jefferies served as buyside advisors in the transaction. Sidley Austin served as legal counsel to Clearlake, while Davis Polk & Wardwell represented Symphony Technology Group and RSA.
The transaction is expected to close in Q2/21, subject to regulatory approvals.