Crossword Cybersecurity acquires cyber threat company

Cybersecurity and risk management firm Crossword Cybersecurity said on Tuesday that it had agreed to acquire an unnamed cyber threat company.

Crossword will acquire the firm for £1.52m, paid in a mixture of cash and shares, some upfront and some deferred, representing an annual recurring revenue multiple of 5.25.

The AIM-listed group stated the acquisition would bring additional software-as-a-service products and roughly twenty new clients to Crossword, across various sectors in multiple jurisdictions. Crossword added that the target company was reaching breakeven, with 90% recurring revenue.

A further announcement was set to be released once the acquisition agreement had been signed in early 2022.

Crossword also noted that on the back of a "successful 2021", with revenue growth expected to be over 40%, at the lower end of market expectations, it was confident that 2022 would see revenue growth accelerate.

Chief executive Tom Ilube said: "We are delighted to have the opportunity to acquire this fast-growth company, and to complete our objective of having five cyber security SaaS products in our portfolio almost a year ahead of schedule.

"The second half of 2021 continued to see excellent client traction with Rizikon, and we are ending the year with more than 500 users of our leading product. With our product portfolio in place, we can now focus our full attention on marketing and selling our SaaS products and consulting services to scale up the business. "

As of 1300 GMT, Crossword shares were up 4.18% at 34.38p.