Pixel Holdco Ltd, the parent company of cloud centric IT services and data specialist Perfect Image and a portfolio company of Vhiltern Capital, has acquired Cyphra Ltd, a Northern Ireland-based provider of cybersecurity solutions to large public sector organisations, government agencies and private enterprises.
Founded in 2014, Cyphra supplies, implements and supports specialist technical solutions to help customers mitigate risk and protect themselves against the exponential growth in cyber threats, such as ransomware.
Through its partnerships with global cybersecurity vendors, including Palo Alto Networks, F5, Fortinet, CyberArk and Checkpoint, Cyphra provides enterprise grade cybersecurity architecture and solutions, cloud security and managed security services, including Next Generation Firewalls, Identity Federation and Access Management, Web Application Firewalls, Managed SIEM and SASE (Secure Access Services Edge). These are underpinned by Cyphra’s strategy-led assurance based consultancy and cybersecurity maturity assessment services.
Cyphra will sit alongside Perfect Image to create a specialist IT services proposition that combines Cyphra’s complementary cybersecurity solutions and services with Perfect Image’s portfolio of cloud infrastructure, managed services and data analytics solutions. Cyphra will continue to operate under its own brand with its founders and existing senior management team driving the business through its next phase of growth and geographic expansion across the UK. Managing Director, Paddy Trainor, will join the Pixel Board.
The acquisition creates significant opportunities for both Cyphra and Perfect Image as they look to leverage the synergies that exist to accelerate growth and drive new and incremental revenue opportunities within their respective customer bases.
Cyphra will draw on Perfect Image resources and infrastructure to scale its business through geographic expansion, penetrating new markets and creating new sales revenues through cross-selling opportunities. Perfect Image will leverage Cyphra’s specialist cybersecurity proposition to drive incremental business within its existing customer base as well as drive net new customer acquisitions.
Pixel Chairman Tom Kelly says: “Cyphra is a strategic acquisition for Pixel as we continue to build out our portfolio of market leading IT managed services companies. We recognised that cybersecurity was fast becoming the major challenge for customers and having looked at the market we identified Cyphra as an ideal acquisition. Its strong leadership team, exceptional technical expertise, stellar customer base and world class technology partnerships set them apart.
“The addition of Cyphra creates a specialist managed IT services proposition with a combined GBP4 million-plus EBITDA and I’m really looking forward to working with the leadership teams to help scale and grow the business to the next level.”
Paddy Trainor, Managing Director of Cyphra says: “We are delighted to be joining Pixel as we look to accelerate our growth across the UK. This will enable us to continue our investment in our people, our partners and our customers and achieve our ambition of becoming the leading ‘pure-play’ cybersecurity company in the UK. Working alongside the Perfect Image team will give us the scale, resources, and capabilities to achieve this.
“Our deep technical know-how and engineering excellence have enabled us to become the go-to cybersecurity specialist for our customers and partners, including some of the largest of Government organisations in Northern Ireland, national Service Providers, and the world’s leading cyber vendors, including Palo Alto Networks, F5 and CyberArk. We’re excited for the future and can’t wait to continue our growth journey.”
Chris Shields, Sales and Marketing Director at Perfect Image, says: “This is a fantastic acquisition and we look forward to working closely alongside Cyphra to drive mutual growth. With data now becoming mission critical for every organisation – large or small, public or private – effective cybersecurity is a must-have. Working alongside Cyphra we have even greater capability to take to our existing customers as well as driving new customer opportunities and growth.”
Ben Robinson, Investment Manager at Chiltern Capital, says: “We are delighted to have been able to support Pixel in its latest acquisition following our original investment in 2019. It’s strong and experienced leadership team had a clear vision of the market opportunity around IT managed services and it’s great to see that vision coming to fruition through the acquisition of Cyphra, adding specialist cybersecurity skills to its growing portfolio.”
