Dell Technologies has agreed to sell RSA for $2.075 billion to a consortium of investors led by private equity firm Symphony Technology Group in another move to streamline its security offerings.
The deal will bring the consortium five security products — RSA Archer, RSA NetWitness Platform, RSA SecurID, RSA Fraud, and Risk Intelligence — and the RSA Conference, the world’s largest cybersecurity event, which is held every year in San Francisco.
The consortium also includes the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and AlpInvest Partners, another private equity firm.
“This is the right long-term strategy for Dell, RSA and our collective customers and partners,” said Dell Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said in a news release. “The transaction will further simplify our business and product portfolio.”
“It also allows Dell Technologies to focus on our strategy to build automated and intelligent security into infrastructure, platforms and devices to keep data safe, protected and resilient,” he added.
Dell acquired RSA as part of its $67 billion takeover of EMC in 2015. EMC had paid $2.1 billion for RSA in 2006.
As CRN reports, Dell has in recent years shed many of its security assets, selling both Quest and SonicWall to private equity firm Francisco Partners for an undisclosed amount in November 2016.
Once the sale of RSA closes, its security portfolio will be limited to cybersecurity solutions provider Secureworks. It is also the majority shareholder in VMWare, which owns Carbon Black, an endpoint detection and response firm.
“The strategies of RSA and Dell Technologies have evolved to address different business needs with different go-to-market models,” Clarke said in a blog post. “The sale of RSA gives us greater flexibility to focus on integrated innovation across Dell Technologies, while allowing RSA to focus on its strategy of providing risk, security and fraud teams with the ability to holistically manage digital risk.”
William Chisholm, managing partner at Symphony Technology Group, said the firm was committed to “maximizing the power of RSA’s talent, expertise and tremendous growth potential and continuing RSA’s strategy to serve customers with a holistic approach to managing their digital risk.”