Cork-based FireEye secures $400m in funding led by Blackstone

20 Nov 2020

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Cybersecurity player FireEye said it will use $400m in new funding from Blackstone and ClearSky to support growth initiatives, including its latest acquisition.

FireEye said a significant amount of new funding will help it support its vision to create the industry’s leading intelligence-led cybersecurity company. The company secured a $400m investment led by Blackstone and joined by the cybersecurity focused investor, ClearSky.

FireEye – which has its EMEA HQ in Cork and an office in Dublin – said it intends to use the proceeds to support strategic growth initiatives, including the acquisition of Respond Software also announced yesterday (19 November). This acquisition is valued at about $186m and with it, FireEye is looking to access new global markets through newly-acquired automated cybersecurity tools.

In conjunction with the Blackstone investment, FireEye will appoint Viral Patel, senior managing director at Blackstone, to its board of directors once the deal is finalised.

“Blackstone and FireEye have a shared vision of the unique role FireEye can play in addressing the increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity challenges their customers face,” Patel said.

“Intelligence and expertise are critical in delivering effective cybersecurity solutions, and FireEye is an industry leader in both. We are excited to partner with the company’s board and management to accelerate execution on their vision.”

On the front lines

FireEye’s CEO, Kevin Mandia, added: “Blackstone and ClearSky have a track record of developing and supporting industry-leading cybersecurity companies. Their investment validates our vision and provides financial, operational and leadership resources to accelerate our strategy.”

Discussing the reasoning behind the Respond Software acquisition, FireEye said the Respond Analyst engine will be integrated with its Mandiant platform.

It said the combination of Respond Software’s capabilities with real-time knowledge of attacker tools and techniques brought by Mandiant will help customers quickly identify the weak signals of an attack and respond to stop it before hackers can accomplish their mission.

Mandia added: “With Mandiant’s position on the front lines, we know what to look for in an attack, and Respond’s cloud-based machine learning productises our expertise to deliver faster outcomes and protect more customers.

“This creates a learning system with new capabilities that will enable us to expand our Mandiant portfolio and drive new extended detection and response revenue through our Mandiant Advantage platform.”

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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