Boston tech firm buys FairWarning
FairWarning, a Clearwater cybersecurity company, has sold to Imprivata, a security firm in Boston.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal was announced about two weeks after Imprivata closed on a funding deal that two credit agencies said would be used in part to finance a pending acquisition.
Imprivata provides identity, authentication and access management solutions to healthcare organizations. The company recently took on a $40 million revolving credit facility and a $745 million term loan, with proceeds from the transaction used to fund a pending acquisition, refinance existing debt and make a $422 million distribution to equity holders, according to reports from Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings.
FairWarning is an analytics and insider threat detection platform that primarily serves the healthcare market. The company was founded in 2005 by Kurt Long. Long stepped down from day-to-day activities at the company in 2018. Ed Holmes was named CEO in August 2019.
“Our platform fits perfectly into Imprivata’s digital identity framework for healthcare and complements Imprivata’s focus on making identity accessible and secure across regulated workflows,” Holmes said in a news release. “We’re excited to join forces with Imprivata to offer a more comprehensive and integrated solution to our joint customers, and to continue to advance innovation in the digital identity and privacy space.”
Gus Malezis, CEO of Imprivata, said the two companies share similarities in culture and commitment to customers.
“We’re excited to make FairWarning a key component of our go-forward analytics and Digital Identity strategy, and to be able to offer our customers a broader set of solutions from a single vendor that is committed to delivering innovative products and a signature customer experience,” Malezis said.
Like other cybersecurity firms in the Tampa Bay area, FairWarning attracted private equity interest prior to its sale to Imprivata. Mainsail Partners, a private equity firm in San Francisco, invested $60 million FairWarning two years ago, in what was the largest private equity deal in the Tampa Bay area in 2018.
