DigiCert, a provider of digital trust, backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with its affiliates, Clearlake), Crosspoint Capital Partners L.P. (Crosspoint), and TA Associates Management L.P. (TA), today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Vercara from Golden Gate Capital and GIC.
Vercara is a provider of cloud-based services that secure the online experience, including managed Authoritative Domain Name System (DNS) and Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) security offerings that protect organizations’ networks and applications. The acquisition will expand DigiCert’s capabilities to protect organizations of all sizes from the growing number of cyberattacks organizations experience each day. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The acquisition of Vercara complements DigiCert’s core PKI and certificate management infrastructure that protects and authenticates people, websites, content, software, and devices. By combining with Vercara, DigiCert will be positioned to provide customers with a unified DNS and certificate management experience, including more efficient domain control validation and simplified DNS configuration.
“The addition of Vercara into our portfolio further advances DigiCert’s goal of delivering digital trust for the real world,” said Amit Sinha, CEO of DigiCert. “We believe the combination of Vercara’s talent and suite of products with DigiCert’s technology, distribution and scale will help ensure customers will get a broader set of solutions that protect them at every stage and layer of online engagement, all from a single vendor. We look forward to working with the Vercara team to continue delivering digital trust to our customers.”
"The team at Vercara has created leading DNS and application security solutions that serve and protect the world’s largest brands, including top e-commerce, financial, and media companies," said Colin Doherty, CEO of Vercara. “The combination of Vercara’s and DigiCert's talent and industry-leading product portfolios is expected to further bolster Vercara’s dedication to securing the online experience and building digital trust. Together, we will help position customers for continued success in operating increasingly complex enterprises."
"DNS and certificates go hand-in-hand to establish trust on the internet,” said Todd Hinders, CEO of Edg.io. “The ability to streamline certificate domain validation via UltraDNS and the ability to manage this with DigiCert’s Trust Lifecycle Manager will significantly reduce the time and complexity when provisioning certificates. The future integration means fewer manual steps and a much smoother workflow, enhancing both our security posture and operational productivity.”
“This strategic acquisition represents an important milestone in our growth vision for DigiCert,” said Prashant Mehrotra, Partner at Clearlake. “Vercara further strengthens the technology DigiCert provides its customers to protect against an increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity threat environment, and we believe this additional product offering will accelerate DigiCert’s leadership position in digital trust.”
“Every organization depends vitally on IT web infrastructure. Two core pillars of that infrastructure are DNS and TLS/SSL. The combination of DigiCert and Vercara unites these two pillars to deliver automated digital trust to even the most sophisticated global enterprises,” said Greg Clark, Managing Partner, Crosspoint Capital.
“We believe the combination of Vercara and DigiCert sets a new standard for building trust into the digital world,” said Jason Werlin, Managing Director at TA. “We are excited by the opportunities that this acquisition presents for DigiCert to deliver even more comprehensive, mission-critical solutions to its customers.”
“During our partnership, Vercara cemented its position as a cloud security solutions leader, and continually enhanced its technological capabilities to deliver on its customers’ evolving and increasingly complex needs,” said Matt Crump, Managing Director at Golden Gate Capital. “We wish the companies well and look forward to seeing Vercara continue to flourish as part of DigiCert.”
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close this year.
Advisors
Sidley Austin LLP served as legal advisor to DigiCert. Barclays served as the exclusive financial advisor to Vercara. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP served as legal advisor to Vercara.
