Dansk Kapitalanlg acquires a share in the Danish IT security company Secunia

October 19, 2010

5 Min Read

PRESS RELEASE

The IT security company Secunia has sold approximately 31 percent of the company to the Danish private equity company Dansk Kapitalanlg. This has provided Secunia with a strategic and financial investor, who is to aid in the implementation of the exiting strategy as well as Secunias further development.

Secunia is one of the leading companies within the area of IT security that focuses on vulnerabilities in applications, developing and supporting intelligent software solutions for effective coverage and remediation of weaknesses in IT networks. Since 2002 the company has developed from being a supplier of vulnerability information to today being the leading research house within the field of vulnerabilities, world known for its vulnerability intelligence and unique technology. This combination of knowledge and technology has ensured that Secunia today has one of the strongest brands in the industry and has created a strong market position.

And according to Jesper Johansen, the newly elected chairman of the board, this is exactly one of the factors that make Secunia an interesting case; Secunia has gone from being a small Danish start-up company to today being benchmarked against international companies within Vulnerability Intelligence and Vulnerability Management such as IBMs X-Force, BigFix, Shavlik, Qualys and Tippingpoint. This development and profitable growth has over the last eight years been facilitated by organic means, and Secunia remains as one of the only players in the industry that has not been financed by millions of venture capital dollars.

Secunia works on an international level and has today more than 1,000 companies in its customer portfolio, counting large international organizations and institutions in EMEA as well as North America. These are supported by the Secunia organization that represents close to 70 employees, spread across more than 15 different nationalities, and working mainly out of HQ in Copenhagen. The primary distribution channel is direct sales, however, efforts are also dedicated to building a larger international partner network.

The company has over the years developed an impressive track record of awards and industry recognitions, which are the result of Secunias ability to initiate, develop, and refine; This has been driven by on-going investments in employees and R&D to ensure a constant line of development. Today the company is highly innovative and recognized as a strong international player within the vulnerability field. This has, among others, contributed to Secunias latest pool of international and national awards, recognizing Secunia for its leadership, excellence, and value enhancement. That is a development that I am extremely proud of, states Niels Henrik Rasmussen, CEO of Secunia.

Earlier this year Secunia received the Customer Value Enhancement award from Frost & Sullivan, and in October the Online Trust Alliance (OTA) recognized Secunia for its leadership and contribution to the trust ecosystem, as well as the Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) for its excellence in desktop security.

Secunia is a unique company that over the last eight years has shown an amazing development and an extraordinary form of leadership. Secunia also represents a company that has everything that Dansk Kapitalanlg focuses on in an investment; a knowledge intensive and competent organization and management that operate in a high growth market, a unique and game-changing product, a strong market position, a high and profitable growth, and a large international potential. This is undoubtedly the result of a strong and impressive team that has managed to develop itself through a very clear and targeted strategy. I am very confident in the presented and approved strategy, states Jesper Johansen from Dansk Kapitalanlg.

Niels Henrik Rasmussen, who founded and has been the CEO for Secunia since 2002, makes it clear that the reason for choosing Dansk Kapitalanlg is based on a combination of capital, competencies, and chemistry; Dansk Kapitalanlg is a very committed investor, who has shown a high level of professionalism throughout the entire process. Further in order for Secunia to continue to be able to execute fast and effectively, I believe that is it important for us to be in close professional proximity to the investor. I greatly value the trust that Dansk Kapitalanlg has shown Secunia, the organization, and the future strategy. This is also one of the reasons for Secunia choosing a Danish investor and not an international player, even though Niels Henrik Rasmussen points out that there has been great international interest in Secunia.

Dansk Kapitalanlgs minority acquisition acknowledges Secunias existing strategy, which contains clear targets on development and further expansion and Niels Henrik Rasmussen makes it clear that Dansk Kapitalanlg will be an additional asset to the companys international expansion strategy; Dansk Kapitalanlg brings a lot of experience that can help Secunia make our strategy even more targeted. I am confident that with Dansk Kapitalanlg, Secunia is in a much stronger position for the future, says CEO Niels Henrik Rasmussen.

In addition to Preben Damgaard, who will be the deputy chairman in the new Secunia board, the board will also represent Jesper Johansen, chairman of the Secunia board and partner in Dansk Kapitalanlg, Lars Neupart, CEO and founder of Neupart, Thomas Zeihlund, former CFO in Telenor, and Niels Henrik Rasmussen, CEO and founder of Secunia.

The new deputy chairman Preben Damgaard states; Personally I am deeply impressed by how Secunia has been able to create such a strong brand, and such a strong strategic position in the international market with solely DKK 125,000 in start-up capital. It shows that is it a competent management team that has developed and executed a considered strategy. I look forward to contributing to the companys future development and to working together with my four board peers.

About Secunia

Secunia is a Danish IT security company, headquartered in Copenhagen, supplying security intelligence and software to the international market. Today close to 70 employees, spread across 15 different nationalities, are working at Secunia, all contributing to making Secunia an inspiring and dynamic work place.

Secunia was established in 2002 by Niels Henrik Rasmussen together with Michael Haddi Zaman, Thomas Kristensen, Jakob Balle, and Thomas Piil.

Over the last few weeks Secunia has won a number of international and national awards:

- Secunia Collects Leadership and Excellence Awards at Online Trust Alliance Forum (http://secunia.com/blog/138)

- For the fourth consecutive year, the Danish financial newspaper Brsen recognises Secunia as a gazelle company (http://secunia.com/blog/136)

- Secunia Wins Computerworld's 2010 Best Basis Software Company Prize(http://secunia.com/blog/134)

- Secunia receives 2010 Global Frost & Sullivan Award for Customer Value Enhancement (http://secunia.com/blog/117)

For further information on Secunia see www.secunia.com.

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