Wheelings & Dealings: Australian MSP BigAir Buys CyberHound

BigAir Group Ltd. has announced the acquisition of CyberHound Pty Ltd., providing it with additional cybersecurity and cybersafety capabilities, a broader customer base, and the ability to scale its business.

The deal is valued at up to $7 million, which includes up to $4 million cash and up to $3 million in BigAir shares.

The acquirer is an Australian managed services provider. The acquired sells managed security solutions, including cybersafety and digital learning services to the education vertical in Australia. CyberHound solutions are used today by more than 550 businesses and more than 350 schools.

“Our customers will benefit from the additional scale provided by the BigAir Group and our ability to bundle additional services such as high-speed data links, internet, IaaS, and other cloud-based services,” explained CyberHound CEO John Fison. “We can also leverage BigAir’s enhanced 24x7 managed services desk.”

Additionally, CyberHound’s national presence and network operations center will enhance BigAir’s professional managed services, Fison added.

CyberHound in the fiscal year 2017 is expected to generate between $5 million and $6 million in revenues, and net profit before tax of more than $1 million. BigAir group expects the acquisition to be immediately EPS accretive.

Organizations’ need for security solutions only seems to be growing stronger in light of the growing amount of digitized information and the increasing sophistication of hackers. Indeed, Juniper Research reports that the cost of data breaches will reach $2.1 trillion globally by 2019. The research firm says that the average cost of a data breach in 2020, meanwhile, will exceed $150 million.

In a recent blog, BigAir suggests that organizations consider hiring a consultant to do security assessments, find exploitable weaknesses in their systems, and work with them to close the gaps.