BlackRock Private Equity Partners has injected additional capital into its portfolio company Cofense, an intelligent phishing defence developer.
The fresh burst of funds will help the company to meet growth strategies, which include deepening research and development and global expansion.
In addition to the investment, Tom McDonough has joined the Cofense board of directors.
Prior to this position, McDonough served as an advisor for corporate development and integration at Cisco System. During his career, he has helped public, early-stage and private companies with their international expansion, venture financing, IPOs, acquisitions and integration.
BlackRock initially invested into Cofense back in 2018, when the cybersecurity company was known as PhishMe.
The $400m acquisition deal was made by BlackRock and Pamplona Capital Management, a fellow private equity firm. While the amount of capital each company supplied for the deal was not disclosed, Pamplona walked away with around two-thirds of the shares and BlackRock received the rest.
Late last year, Pamplona sold its stake in Cofense to BlackRock after a year-long probe into the business by national security regulators.
Following a probe, the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States told Pamplona that it needed to sell its stake in the cybersecurity company.
Cofense helps firms to stop phishing attacks by detecting, identifying and quarantining malicious emails which elude secure email gateways.
The company has nearly 2,000 clients spanning 150 countries and industries including finance, healthcare, manufacturing, technology and more.
Cofense co-founder and CEO Rohyt Belani said, “We are pleased to build upon our relationship with BlackRock following one of our strongest quarters in company history.
“Combined with recent enhancements to Cofense’s leadership structure and the addition of Tom to our board of directors, the company is well positioned to meet growth and profitability targets in the coming year.”
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