IK buys Truesec from Sobro

Harriet Matthews
09 November 2021

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IK Partners is to acquire Sweden-headquartered cybersecurity business Truesec in an SBO from Sobro.

Sobro's management and employees are to reinvest as part of the deal, according to a statement.

Sobro acquired a 59% stake in Truesec in October 2018. Truesec employed 78 staff and posted revenues of SEK 113m (EUR 11.5m) at the time, according to Unquote Data.

Unquote sister publication Mergermarket reported in October 2021 that Sobro had mandated Raymond James to review exit options for Truesec. Sources told Mergermarket that the company expects to post revenues of SEK 300m (EUR 30.3m) and EBITDA of SEK 80m (EUR 8.1m) in the 2021 financial year.

Likely bidders would be sponsors or larger IT consultancy firms, one source told Mergermarket, although the report noted that sponsors could find the valuation challenging if it neared a 20x EBITDA multiple.

IK said in a statement that it aims to support the company in its continuing growth, which will include the development of new services, as well as strengthening its position internationally.

The GP is investing via its IK IX fund, which held a final close in May 2020 on its EUR 2.85bn hard-cap. The fund invests in mid-market companies with enterprise values of EUR 100m-500m, making equity investments of EUR 50m-150m.

The deal is IK's seventh platform investment to be announced in H2 2021 and its fourth deal since October.

The announcement comes shortly after IK's exit from fire protection service provider BST, which it sold to Norvestor. The GP invested in the company from industrial group Infrea in April 2019 via its IK Small Cap II fund in a deal that valued BST at almost SEK 500m, according to Unquote Data. The sale marked IK's fifth exit in 2021 to date.

According to Unquote Data, 2021 has been IK's busiest year of investment activity to date, completing 14 deals across its small-cap and mid-market strategies with an aggregate value of approximately EUR 3.4bn (excluding its newly announced acquisition of Truesec). This follows 2020's nine deals with an aggregate value of around EUR 1.9bn, according to Unquote Data.

Company
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Stockholm, Truesec is a cybersecurity company that aims to prevent and reduce the impact of cybercrime on businesses. Truesec assists businesses with the identification of risks, the development of IT security systems, and plans for responses to cyberattacks.

Truesec posted revenues of SEK 246m (EUR 24.8m) and EBITDA of SEK 60m (EUR 5.9m) in the 2019/20 financial year, versus revenues of SEK 172m (EUR 17.3m) and EBITDA of SEK 36m (EUR 3.6m) in 2018/19, according to its annual report. The company had 112 employees as of 2019 and now employs 180 staff.

People
Truesec – Anna Averud (CEO); Marcus Murray (founder).
Sobro – David Stenlund Sager (partner).
IK Partners – Alireza Etemad (partner).