Summa Equity buys majority stake in cybersecurity specialist Logpoint

Upon completion, expected in Q2 2023, the deal will see Summa hold more than 50% of the company's shares, with existing investor Yttrium (formerly Digital+ Partners) retaining a significant minority stake. Other investors include a small number of undisclosed minority investors and the management team, Jacob Frandsen, investment director at Summa, told Unquote.

Summa said in a press release that the deal addresses United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #9 and #16. The ESG-focused sponsor, which had been screening the cybersecurity market for the last 12 months, sees the investment as a way to tackle the growing problems related to cybercrime, Frandsen said.

“Logpoint will serve as the platform for building a European cybersecurity powerhouse, as an alternative to the dominating US vendors,” Christian Melby, partner and CIO at Summa, said in the press release.

Summa invested through Summa Equity Fund III, which closed on EUR 2.3bn in January 2022, according to Unquote Data. The Article 9 impact vehicle has a thematic approach to investments, targeting companies operating in resource efficiency, changing demographics, and tech-enabled transformation sectors. It is backed by 70 institutional investors including, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, pension fund AP1, HarbourVest, and the University of Michigan.

Logpoint intended to launch a Series C financing round but ended up choosing to run a sale led by advisers at Boston Meridian Partners, Jesper Zerlang, CEO of Logpoint, said. The process attracted interest from various VC and PE funds mainly from the US, with around 30 shortlisted parties. He added that, with most cybersecurity providers being based in the US and Israel, it was important for Logpoint to maintain a European identity and find a sponsor that “matched” its Scandinavian heritage. A stake sale would also provide the business with a strategy for four to five years, he said.

Growth plans
Under Summa’s ownership, Logpoint will prioritise growth in Europe growth for at least the next two years and pursue internationalisation efforts thereafter. “There is significant demand for cybersecurity companies in Europe as companies have matured and there is a war in Ukraine.” It will also screen the cyber analytics domain for opportunistic bolt-on targets.

Logpoint is a “sophisticated provider” so finding relevant targets is not easy, however it has a pipeline of bolt-on targets. It offers five different technologies, two of which were acquired, Zerlang said.

According to reports, Logpoint raised USD 30m in Series B funding in September 2020. The round was led by Digital+ partners with participation from existing investors including, Evolution Equity Partners. It had raised USD 42m prior to the Series B round. 

Company
Headquartered in Copenhagen and founded in 2003, Logpoint provides cybersecurity solutions including SIEM, UEBA, SOAR, and SAP security technologies. Active in 11 locations across Europe, the US and Asia, the company's platform is available as a SaaS solution and On-Premise, which provides services include, identifying cybersecurity threats and providing cybersecurity teams with the tools required to respond immediately. Clients of the business include Boeing, Airbus and GoSecure and Logpoint employs 280 staff.

People
Summa Equity – Christian Melby (partner, CIO), Jacob Frandsen (investment director).
Logpoint – Jesper Zerlang (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – McKinsey & Company (commercial due diligence); PwC (financial due diligence).
Vendor – Boston Meridian Partners (corporate finance).

[Editor's note: The article has been amended throughout to correct the spelling of Logpoint CEO Jesper Zerlang's name.]

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