Smith & Williamson and Thrings advise on £3.5m Cybsafe Fundraising
Written By: Iain Lownes
Published: Thu, 13 Sep 2018 09:58 GMT
CybSafe, based in London's Canary Wharf, is an award-winning cloud-based platform which raises awareness of cyber security within organisations through provision of learning material, risk assessment and analytics.
Iain Lownes, partner and corporate finance director at Smith & Williamson, was lead adviser on the transaction. Tax advice was provided by Smith & Williamson LLP partner Peter Ball, who heads up the firm's entrepreneurs and scale-ups team in Bristol.
Legal advice was provided by Mike Tomlin, corporate partner at Thrings, who supported CybSafe CEO Oz Alashe and his team, with the preparation and negotiation of the investment documentation, facilitating its progression through to completion.
"CybSafe is a strong business which is growing fast and is at the forefront of the important work which is being done to change the way people and organisations adopt, and interact with, the crucial area of cyber security," says Iain Lownes.
"The business is already a success story but this fundraising will enable it to continue its growth by investing in its people and platform infrastructure. Smith & Williamson has a strong focus on working with technology businesses and I am delighted to work with the CybSafe team to help it towards delivering the next step of its strategy."
"CybSafe is a great example of a successful scale up - those high-growth businesses which are moving to the next level and creating wealth, opportunity and employment along the way," adds Peter Ball.
"We play an active role in supporting many of these businesses, from the start-up phase through to funding, growth, sale and life post-sale."
Mike Tomlin says: "We have accompanied CybSafe from its days as a start-up with a strong idea, to the market leader it has become today. As users of the platform, Thrings' staff have been given the tools to side-step a host of cyber threats.
"Oz and the team have shown clear vision and are continuing to look ahead in order to ensure their product keeps up with the ever-changing security landscape. It is no surprise therefore that investors have grasped the opportunity to get involved with this exceptional business."
Oz Alashe, CEO of CybSafe, said: "With high street banks and the Financial Conduct Authority among our growing portfolio of clients, this multi-million pound investment from a consortium of overseas investors will enable us to bring in new technical and strategic-level talent to ensure we stay ahead of the curve.
"The dedication, skilled guidance and support of the banking and corporate team at Thrings and Smith & Williamson's corporate finance experts was integral to the success of this strategic investment for CybSafe."
Smith & Williamson's Bristol-based corporate finance team worked on another recent technology deal, the Management Buy Out at software development company Sparkol. It also advised on the recent disposal of bus operator East Yorkshire Motor Services to international transport organisation Go-Ahead Group plc.
Thrings' South West banking and corporate team advised on £217 million worth of lending in 2017 and a real estate portfolio value in excess of £116 million. Recent deals include working on a £75 million investment by Aviva in South West telecommunications business, TrueSpeed, and the MBO of Swindon-based telecoms and IT solutions provider, Excalibur."
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