Tesserent's Julian Challingsworth
Tesserent subsidiary TNT Cyber Services has bought NTH Consulting (trading as north BDT) from PS&C for $5.3 million.
PS&C initially bought the Canberra-based security consulting firm in May last year for just over $1 million.
north focuses on digital transformation, cyber security and service integration and management (SIAM).
In a statement, Tesserent said the acquisition of north will provide access to its government and private client base in Canberra and also provides the opportunity to leverage north’s existing customer relationships for cross sales into TNT’s Security Operations Centre and Splunk offerings.
north also brings a strong operating record, delivering $6.2 million in revenue and is forecast to hit $11 million in FY20.
“The proposed purchase of north is another key piece of Tesserent’s acquisition strategy, complementing the organic growth the business is delivering under its Cyber 360 strategy, aimed at providing a comprehensive security as-a-service offering targeted at mid-market and enterprise clients,” Tesserent said in a statement to the ASX.
Tesserent CEO, Julian Challingsworth added the team at north will bring their extensive knowledge in working with Australian government clients and a strong background in scaling up growth businesses.
“North is a logical acquisition for Tesserent as it will allow us to expand our reach within Australia into the ACT, and enable us to provider our cybersecurity offerings to north’s portfolio of public and private sector customers,” Challingsworth said.
In October, Tesserent purchased PS&C’s security division for $16 million at the time, but this has now been revised down to $14 million as both parties agreed to remove the earnout agreement.
The acquisition now consists of three parts - $8 million in cash, $5 million in fully paid shares in Tesserent at $0.05 per share and $1 million payable in March or June, depending on performance targets.
Despite this, Tesserent insists the addition of PS&C’s Pure Security will make it the largest publicly listed dedicated cyber security firm, adding in excess of $16 million in revenue and significantly expanding its customer base across various industries and geographies including Asia and the UK.
According to PS&C, the two transactions have significantly eliminated liabilities from its balance sheet that will help to further reduce its net debt.
