Swiss defence firm snaps up Brit security outfit Clearswift

Swiss aerospace and defence firm RUAG has slurped UK cyber security outfit Clearswift from private equity owner Lyceum Capital, the financial terms of which were not disclosed. The buy continues a recent trend of aerospace and defence companies investing into cybersecurity armoury, exemplified by Raytheon's acquisition of …

[ratfox]

Terms not disclosed

I kind of wonder just how that is possible, considering RUAG is 100% owned by the Swiss government.

[Lotaresco]

Re: Terms not disclosed

There's very little difference between privately owned and 100% owned by the Swiss government in the eyes of the Swiss government. leak information about a private Swiss company and the state will call you a spy and try to bang you up for 20 years, as Stanley Adams found out.

This is probably why we won't ever know what the terms of the purchase of Clearswift were.

[Doctor Syntax]

“This deal highlights the continued global success of UK-based technology companies."

This deal highlights the UK's continued global success at selling off its technology companies.

FTFY

[Lotaresco]

In the good old days this might have caused problems

Clearswift has military as well as civilian customers and some of its products address particular needs of government IT. It would therefore have been seen as a company with a vital role in protecting critical national infrastructure (CNI). It's also likely that the company does well from close association with government agencies. Any sale to a foreign buyer would have been treated with great suspicion.

I guess that's not seen as important these days since many of the companies supplying key components of CNI are foreign owned. Let's hope we don't do anything counter to our interests as a nation such as falling out with our near neighbours who own important bits of our economy, such as threatening to leave the trading bloc that we are all members of. Because that would be silly, when we are so deep in their pockets, right?

[hammarbtyp]

To Summarise

“This deal highlights the continued global success of UK-based technology companies. Since the EU referendum, we have seen a resilience in UK and European mid-market M&A in the technology sector, despite the ongoing market volatility. We continue to see the UK as a hub for technology, and demand for UK companies is set to continue into 2017.”

To paraphrase, since the referendum the 3 has dropped through the floor against most major currencies meaning foreign firms can cherry pick the best UK companies for a pittance compared to a few months ago...taking control indeed.