Thales proposes to acquire Tesserent and expand its global cybersecurity footprint

Paris-based Thales has announced its plan to buy cybersecurity firm Tesserent, one of Australia and New Zealand’s largest cybersecurity companies, with a 2022 turnover of $185 million (circa €110 million) and about 500 employees across nine offices.

The combination of Tesserent and Thales would provide advanced cybersecurity services to address sophisticated customer needs in Australia and New Zealand, including in the Government and Defence sectors. It will create an experienced provider of cybersecurity services in Australia and New Zealand at a time when the market is expecting double-digit growth through to 2026.

Unanimously recommended by Tesserent’s Board of Directors, this acquisition is subject to Tesserent’s shareholders’ approval and certain other customary conditions. If approved, the new entity will become the lead Cybersecurity offering of Thales Australia and New Zealand. It will accelerate the growth of cyber solutions operations for Thales customers in Australia and New Zealand, supported by the scale, balance sheet and know-how of the global Thales business.

The Tesserent business will continue to be known as Tesserent, and its visual identity will incorporate the “Cyber Solutions by Thales” tagline. As a leading cyber consulting company for Government and Defence, it already provides a full suite of cybersecurity solutions and services to medium and enterprise-level organisations.

This acquisition would enable Thales to accelerate its cybersecurity development roadmap and expand its footprint in Australia and New Zealand. With €1.5 billion (about AUD$2.5 billion) in cybersecurity sales in 2022, Thales is a global leader in this field.

The combination of Tesserent and Thales would provide advanced cybersecurity services to address sophisticated customer needs in Australia and New Zealand, including in the Government and Defence sectors. It will create an experienced provider of cybersecurity services in Australia and New Zealand at a time when the market is expecting double-digit growth through to 2026.

“With the acquisition of Tesserent and its highly skilled team of cyber experts, and combined with our own system engineering experts, Thales Australia will establish an Australian/New Zealand leader in Cyber Defence able to best protect the country and its national infrastructure from cyber threats,” said Jeff Connolly, CEO of Thales Australia.

“After the acquisition of S21sec, Excellium and OneWelcome in Europe in 2022, we continue to accelerate our global cybersecurity strategy and consolidate our leadership in cybersecurity, both for critical infrastructure as well as multinational companies.”