Symantec offered to buy Beyond Security
Efi Landau and Dan Yachin
Symantec wants to enter the information security business. Beyond Security CEO Aviram Jenik: It wasn’t the time to sell.
https://images.globes.co.il/globes/icons/favicon2019-en.png
US information security company Symantec (Nasdaq:SYMC) announced yesterday that it had completed yet another in an endless series of acquisitions, buying Nexland (OTCBB:XLAND) for $19.6 million in cash. Nexland is the US company that developed the information security standard that provides an enterprise’s branches with a secure link to its headquarter intranet networks. The acquisition means that Symantec, best known for its Norton anti-virus software, is pursuing its new strategic policy of entering the hardware sector.

Until now, Symantec has not found any Israeli target for its aggressive acquisition strategy, but it was once close to completing a deal. The company in question was Beyond Security, which declined the offer. Beyond Security largest shareholder and CEO Aviram Jenik declined to disclose the amount offered, saying, “We failed to reach an agreement, because we weren’t interested in this acquisition.” No response was available from Symantec on the subject.

Beyond Security monitors and tests enterprise information security systems. It has 30 employees in three branches worldwide and its development center in Israel. The company began operating in 1998 with the launch of an information security portal, and was officially founded a year later. Its main security product is Automated Scanning Engine, which maps an enterprises network and simulates internal and external attacks. The product then produces a report detailing the system’s deficiencies and proposes solutions.

After Beyond Security’s rejection, Symantec found another acquisition target in a company with Israeli roots: Riptech Security Consulting, founded by Israeli expatriates Amit, Dov, and Elad Yoran. Riptech also tests information security systems, and is also active in the rather hot field of managed security services. Symantec acquired Riptech a few months later for $145 million.

“Symantec’s offer was not our first,” says Jenik. “We’ve had other offers from both medium-sized and large Israeli companies, as well as from major foreign companies, though not of Symantec’s size. We rejected them all, because we knew we were still growing and we hadn’t reached the value we wanted. In some cases, we didn’t want to be a tiny cog in a large machine. We like what we’re doing. In Symantec’s case, we deliberated, because we greatly esteem them. We decided this wasn’t the right time to sell. The fact that we’re still here after five years, without external investors, while some of our original competitors are gone, speaks for itself.”