Proofpoint Buys Messaging Security Company Cloudmark For $110M

Proofpoint, a cybersecurity company, announced news on Tuesday (Nov. 7) that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Cloudmark, a messaging security and threat intelligence company for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and mobile carriers.

In a press release, Proofpoint said the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017 and is subject to customary closing conditions. The company is paying $110 million for Cloudmark.

“We are excited to welcome Cloudmark’s ISP and mobile carrier customers to Proofpoint,” said Gary Steele, Chief executive officer of Proofpoint, in the press release announcing the deal. “By combining the threat intelligence from Cloudmark with the Proofpoint Nexus platform, we can better protect all of our customers — both enterprises and ISPs — from today’s rapidly evolving threats.”

According to Proofpoint, Cloudmark correlates email threat telemetry data into its Global Threat Network, including intelligence derived from malware campaigns and targeted emails spams like spear phishing and business email compromise (BEC). As part of the acquisition, Cloudmark’s Global Threat Network will be incorporated into Proofpoint’s Nexus platform.

Some of the things that will be incorporated into the Nexus platform include messaging threat telemetry from billions of daily emails, threat intelligence around malicious domains and visibility into fraudulent and malicious SMS messages directed to mobile carriers worldwide. Proofpoint plans to continue Cloudmark’s service provider products, with an ongoing roadmap leveraging the combined capabilities of both companies, it said in the release.

“Messaging has been the number one threat vector for years, but with ransomware and BEC, it’s never been a more urgent issue,” said Jason Donahue, chief executive officer of Cloudmark in the same press release. “We’re thrilled to be continuing our work to fight advanced threats in messaging as part of Proofpoint.”

Proofpoint expects Cloudmark to have no material impact to its financial outlook for the fourth quarter and or for 2017 as a whole, but to have a positive impact for all of 2018. Some of the contributions resulted in Proofpoint increasing its revenue range from $20 million – $25 million to $664 million – $673 million for all of 2018 and increasing the billings range from $20 million – $25 million to $818 million – $827 million, with no material impact to non-GAAP net income or free cash flow.