Private investment firm Clearlake Capital Group and existing investor TA Associates are to make a strategic growth investment inDigiCert, a provider of TLS/SSL, PKI and IoT security solutions for identity and encryption.
As a part of the transaction, Clearlake and TA will become equal partners in DigiCert. The company will continue to be led by CEO John Merrill and the current management team, who are investing alongside Clearlake and TA in the transaction. Terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.
DigiCert provides certificate management platforms and industry-best customer support in multiple languages through a diverse staff, with offices located across the globe. The company combines a modern infrastructure with locally focused solutions to enhance security for its customers anywhere they conduct business and in compliance with local requirements.
“DigiCert continues to experience strong growth within our SSL business as well as enterprise PKI and IoT security, and we are addressing the needs for improved automation and certificate management,” says DigiCert CEO John Merrill. “We’re excited to continue our partnership with TA and welcome Clearlake to accelerate our growth, advance our industry leadership and continue to innovate for our customers.”
“Having served as an active investor in DigiCert for nearly seven years, we have had the distinct honor and privilege of watching the company flourish from a 40-person upstart technology company to a leading provider of digital certificates with more than 1,000 employees globally,” says Jason Werlin, a managing director at TA Associates. “Specifically, DigiCert’s solutions and loyal customer base have strategically positioned the company to capitalise on both organic and inorganic initiatives to further scale its business. We look forward to continuing to provide support to DigiCert and working collaboratively with management alongside Clearlake as the company enters its next phase of growth.”
Werlin will become chairman of the DigiCert Board of Directors upon the closing of the transaction, and Hythem El-Nazer, a managing director at TA, will join the DigiCert Board of Directors.
“DigiCert is an exciting business with visionary technology, led by John and the management team, that seamlessly addresses security needs for customers of all sizes across the globe,” says Behdad Eghbali, co-founder and managing partner, and Prashant Mehrotra, partner, of Clearlake Capital Group. “We believe the company is well positioned for further growth due to its solid base of recurring subscription revenue and significant market trends as customers increasingly demand security and identity solutions with the strongest encryption and highest authentication standards. We are pleased to join TA as partners in DigiCert and look forward to utilising our OPS framework to support the team in continuing to aggressively grow the company organically and through acquisition.”
DigiCert has a history of innovation, including being the first to launch an independent log for Google Certificate Transparency, offer TLS for the TOR browser and partner with Microsoft to enable EV code signing certificates. DigiCert also leads with certificate-based encryption, authentication, integrity and identity for the IoT. The company operates PKI for many IoT device industry consortia and manufacturers, and has issued billions of device certificates to-date.
“DigiCert is grateful for the partnership with Thoma Bravo, which has allowed us to achieve operational excellence. They were the right partner at the right time to help us drive the growth that we’ve achieved,” says Merrill.
“Our DigiCert investment is a powerful example of Thoma Bravo partnering with management to dramatically scale a business through organic growth initiatives and acquisition,” says Robert Sayle, a partner at Thoma Bravo. “DigiCert has maintained an impressive growth rate throughout our investment and is on track for continued industry leadership this year and beyond. We appreciate the commitment and partnership of John Merrill and his outstanding management team. Today, DigiCert is strategically positioned for continued success with its new partners, and we wish them well.”
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2019, pending customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
