ASX-listed security services company Tesserent has acquired Canberra-based IT services firms Pearson Corporation and Claricent for a combined $33 million.
The acquisitions will look to bolster Tesserent’s Federal Government business, with both companies to be integrated into subsidiary North Security.
Tesserent said Pearson and Claricent both have leading positions in the Federal Government marketplace and would allow the company to deliver large multi-year projects.
Tesserent will shell out $28.8 million for Pearson and $4.13 million for Claricent, both paid with a mix of cash and Tesserent shares and paid in two installments – 50 percent upon the acquisition’s completion later this month and the remaining on September 2022. The company said the deal was financed by its recent capital raise held in September 2021.
“The addition of these two government focused organisations to the Tesserent group is a welcome one,” Tesserent chairman Geoff Lord said.
“These acquisitions cement our position as the leading ASX-listed provider of cybersecurity solutions and services into Federal Government and the leading provider of Essential 8 consulting services, as well as contributing to our annual revenue and adding significant recurring EBITDA to the group.”
Pearson specialises in the delivery of the Essential 8 program, a set of mitigation strategies designed by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to give organisations a baseline of protection from threats.
Claricent specialises in Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC), incorporating security into customers’ System Development Lifecycle from concept, design, build, implementation to go-live and business-as-usual activities.
Tesserent said it expects the acquisitions to finalise by 31 December 2021 and said they would be earnings, cash flow and EPS accretive while delivering recurring revenue.
The acquisition comes after a recent leadership shuffle within Tesserent, with Kurt Hansen named sole CEO last month while Julian Challingsworth moves to cyber technologies and product development business Tesserent Innovation as its chairman.
Geoff Lord also swapped his role of non-executive chairman to executive chairman as part of the shuffle.Got a news tip for our journalists? Share it with us anonymously here.