News
French telco enters exclusive talks with PE firm over acquisition of cybersecurity business.
Orange on Friday revealed that it has entered exclusive talks that could lead to the acquisition of French cybersecurity specialist Lexsi.
The telco provided few details on the proposed transaction, other than that it is holding talks with Swiss-based private equity firm Argos Soditic, which bought control of Lexsi eight years ago.
The transaction is subject to consultation meetings with employee representative organisations, Orange said. It expects to close the deal in the second quarter of this year.
The acquisition would represent "a new milestone" in the development of Orange Cyberdefense, Orange Business Services’ IT security services arm, the operator said.
Lexsi would bring additional expertise and capabilities to its portfolio and strengthen its position in the IT security services space in France and elsewhere in Europe, it added.
Lexsi provides auditing, consulting, incident response and training services in the IT security arena and runs what it claims is the largest independent computer emergency response team (CERT) in Europe.
It has 400 active customers and employs 170 people.
