Sunday, December 13, 2020

FireEye raises $400 million from Blackstone and ClearSky

FireEye closed on a $400 million strategic investment led by funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and joined by ClearSky, a cyber security-focused investment firm, as a co-investor in the transaction.

FireEye also announced that Viral Patel, a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone, and Art Coviello, former chief executive officer of RSA Security, have been appointed to the FireEye Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Art Coviello, former chief executive officer of RSA Security said, “FireEye and Mandiant are widely recognized for their threat intelligence and security expertise, and I am delighted to join the board. I look forward to working with Kevin and the FireEye leadership team to help them realize their vision of intelligence-driven security solutions for organizations of all sizes.”


“I am excited to welcome Viral and Art to FireEye as members of our Board of Directors,” said Kevin Mandia, FireEye chief executive officer. “Each brings a unique perspective on the dynamics of successful strategy and execution, and we look forward to their contributions as we pursue our transformation strategy and growth opportunities.”

Under the revised terms of their investment, Blackstone and ClearSky purchased 400,000 shares of FireEye’s newly designated 4.5% Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Series A Preferred”), with a purchase price of $1,000 per share, for $400 million in the aggregate. The Series A Preferred will be convertible into shares of FireEye's common stock at a conversion price of $17.25 per share, subject to certain customary adjustments. Additional information regarding the investment and the Series A Preferred were included in the Form 8-K previously filed by FireEye with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 18th, 2020.

FireEye claims over 9,600 customers across 103 countries, including more than 50 percent of the Forbes Global 2000.

https://www.fireeye.com/company/press-releases/2020/fireeye-closes--400-million-strategic-investment-led-by-blackstone.html

  • In 2014, FireEye acquired Mandiant in a deal valued at $1 billion.

Fireeye reports cyber attack by a nation state

FireEye confirmed that it was recently attacked by a highly sophisticated cyber threat actor in what it believes was as a state-sponsored attack. Kevin Mandia, FireEye's Chief Executive Officer,said the attackers tailored their world-class capabilities specifically to target certain Red Team assessment tools that the company uses to test its customers’ security. These tools mimic the behavior of many cyber threat actors and enable FireEye to...