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Chicago-based Trustwave Holdings Inc. has a new owner. Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. is buying privately-held Trustwave for $810 million, Singtel announced Tuesday.
Singtel placed an $850 million value on Trustwave. It will buy 98% of the firm with Trustwave chairman and chief executive Robert J. McCullen retaining 2%.
Trustwave, which provides data-security protection services, will continue to operate as a standalone business unit of Singtel, and remain based in Chicago. Trustwave has more than 3 million business subscribers to its services in 96 nations.
Four years ago, Trustwave had begun preparing to go public but didn’t complete that process.
The expectation is that Singtel will be able to call on Trustwave’s expertise to expand in the Asia-Pacific region, Singtel says. “We aspire to be a global player in cyber security,” Chua Sock Koong, Singtel Group chief executive, said in a press release. “We have established a strong security business in the region, both organically and through strategic partnerships with global technology leaders.”
Singtel plans to combine its information and communications technology expertise with Trustwave’s portfolio of managed services, Singtel says. The acquisition will help Singtel expand its existing security products.
Singtel’s acquisition of Trustwave makes sense, Tim Sloane, vice president of payments innovation at Maynard, Mass.-based Mercator Advisory Group Inc., tells Digital Transactions News. “The services Trustwave provides can be applied anywhere,” Sloane says. “It’s about managing threats, protecting data and making sure clients meet compliance requirements. Trustwave has built up a pretty remarkable depth of knowledge around protecting data.”
The deal also may be a result of Singapore companies eager to invest in U.S. companies, suggests analyst Avivah Litan of Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc. “Singapore companies are chomping to put their money into U.S. companies,” Litan tells Digital Transactions News.
