Zix Acquiring AppRiver to Bolster Email Security for SMBs

In a move looking to bolster its portfolio of email, compliance and other security tools for small and midsized businesses, Dallas-based Zix has inked a $275-million deal to acquire AppRiver, a provider of cloud-based cybersecurity services.

When the deal closes later this year, the combined company is expected to produce about $180 million in revenue over the next 12 months, while increasing Zix's reach into the security channel, according to the January 15 announcement.

AppRiver, which serves about 60,000 customers with its 4,500-person managed service provider sales force, provides cloud-based security tools, including web protection, email encryption, secure archiving and email continuity, as well as Microsoft Office 365 and Secure Hosted Exchange services specifically designed for small and midsized businesses (SMBs).

(Source: Pixabay)

This SMB market, which typically does not invest that much in cybersecurity or leaves protecting their infrastructure to a third-party despite the risks, is the market that Zix plans to target once the acquisition is complete, especially through the channel partners that AppRiver provides. (See Majority of Cyber Attacks Against Small Businesses Can Cost $500K.)

Zix believes that offering cloud-based services and tools can help small businesses with security basic needs, such as email protection for employees.

"More specifically, the acquisition helps us expand our customer base, enhance our advanced threat protection position, and accelerate our high-velocity go-to-market strategy through AppRiver's numerous and longstanding channel partnerships," Zix CEO David Wagner noted in Tuesday's statement. "Most importantly it further accelerates our offerings into the cloud at the point of initial cloud application purchase. Email is typically the first application that gets moved to the cloud, and this acquisition puts us squarely at the beginning of our customers' cloud migration."

This cloud-based approach to selling security tools and services has been a flashpoint since the start of the year, with Sophos, Radware and Akamai all announcing acquisition in the last two weeks that bolster their cloud-based offerings. (See Sophos & Akamai Target Cloud Security With Acquisitions.)

Zix itself already offers a number of security products designed for SMBs, including ZixMail, which provides email management and encryption for messages and attachments.

Related posts:

— Scott Ferguson is the managing editor of Light Reading and the editor of Security Now. Follow him on Twitter @sferguson_LR.