Clavister completes Omen Technologies acquisition

The deal will see the entirety of Omen Technologies business and personnel transfer to Clavister. At a time when the AI cybersecurity market is undergoing exponential growth (expected to be worth $46.3 billion by 2027) driven by the rapid adoption of IoT, connected devices and cloud-based security solutions, this acquisition is highly strategic for Clavister.

AI allows cybersecurity systems to analyze patterns, learn from them and then detect changes in behavior. This helps cybersecurity teams be more proactive in preventing threats and responding to active attacks in real time.

The acquisition of Omen immediately strengthens Clavister’s offering in Defence with significant identified upsell potential into the Clavister defence customer base as well as opportunities to grow amongst Omen’s attractive pipeline of customers. From a solution sales perspective, Omen is already working closely with Clavister’s CyberArmour team for technical integration with Clavister products. In the next two years, Omen’s technology will also be fully integrated into Clavister’s SASE solution to add artificial intelligence-based threat detection to cloud-delivered security.

The founding team of Omen consists of award-winning researchers and business developers with extensive experience in cybersecurity both from research and from the industry. Based in Sweden and with an established partnership with Clavister already, Omen brings sought after expertise into the Clavister group while being closely aligned with Clavister’s culture and approach to development.

In addition to reinforcing Clavister’s brand proposition of “Security by Sweden”, the acquisition of Omen fits well with Clavister’s stated mergers and acquisitions strategy.

Omen’s customers and projects are based in Northern Europe (primarily in Sweden) and currently largely in mission-critical applications. For example, Clavister and Omen are already partnering alongside BAE Systems to build AI-based cybersecurity for CAN & IP traffic in vehicles in the Defence sector. Over time, Omen’s AI technology will become embedded in most of the Clavister solutions as it is applicable to all of Clavister’s focus sectors.

Given the market trends in cybersecurity, AI has been a high priority capability on the Clavister development roadmap. Not only is the acquisition of Omen a cost-effective way of gaining this capability, it also accelerates time to market with the potential of several meaningful revenue-generating accounts live in 2022. Omen’s technology has successfully been trailed by several large companies outside of the two companies’ joint defense-related projects. Their additional prospective clients represent very attractive growth opportunities for Clavister, which, combined with high gross margin, translates into a strong potential EBITDA growth driver.

Clavister is acquiring Omen for a purchase price based on an enterprise value of 15 MSEK on a debt and cash free basis. The founders of Omen are taking the entirety of their consideration in shares to align themselves with the growth potential both sides see from integrating Omen into the Clavister portfolio.  In order to provide the founders of Omen with the aforementioned shares, the board of directors in Clavister intends to, in accordance with an authorization from the annual general meeting of 2021, resolve on a directed set-off issue of approximately 1.67 million shares to the founders of Omen at a subscription price per share of SEK 7.08. This set-off issue of shares is scheduled to be made on November 4, 2021. The fourth shareholder, Chalmers Ventures with a 21% ownership, is paid in cash.

Omen’s business has generated limited revenues with positive net results since it was founded in 2019. The acquisition is expected to result in a net positive contribution to EBITDA for Clavister in 2022, while the effects on Clavister’s balance sheet resulting from the integration of Omen’s operation is minor.

Commenting on the acquisition, Clavister CEO John Vestberg said: “We have partnered with Omen Technologies for some time and have been impressed by their ability to innovate solutions that protect integrated systems from the start. It is clear that AI-based technologies will play a vital role in all cybersecurity moving forward. Cyberattacks are ever evolving and we need solutions that can analyze new trends and patterns quickly so we can remain secure in a connected world. The entirety of the Clavister product suite will be enhanced through this acquisition and I am confident that the addition of the team will further accelerate our focus and ability to expand across all sectors.”

Wissam Aoudi, CEO and co-founder of Omen Technologies said: “We are incredibly proud of the advancement we have made in the area of AI-based cyber protection. Our dedication to developing innovative technology built to combat modern cyber threats has seen us gain attention from leading manufacturers. Joining forces with Clavister – a company that has been at the forefront of the Swedish and European cybersecurity market for many years – will only enable our vision and goals to be achieved faster and on a much larger scale.”