Should the sale push through, this would be Microsoft’s fourth Israeli acquisition since the start of the year.
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Microsoft plans to acquire Israeli cloud-based, cybersecurity start-up Adallom for $320 million. Many of Microsoft’s previous buys focused on enhancing its security products, more so on cloud-based technologies.
In December 2013, the company revealed it had discovered a severe vulnerability in Microsoft Office 365 that posed a risk for users of Office 2013 Desktop. It is expected to become the centre for Microsoft’s cybersecurity business in Israel. The addition of Aorato was aimed at helping Microsoft provide customers with identity and access security solutions that work across both on-premises and cloud-based applications.
Founded in 2012, Adallom has 80 employees in Israel, in Tel Aviv, and the United States, in Palo Alto, California.
It’s important to recognize that MSFT stock boasts about $107 billion in cash on its books, and that much of it is overseas – or at least, it was a few months ago. Its investors include Rembrandt Fund, Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures. Purchase prices for the acquisitions haven’t been confirmed, although reports indicate that N-trig was purchased for somewhere between $30 million and $200 million. Incidentally, it was HP’s first-ever investment in an Israeli start-up. The firm can reportedly secure information stored on Salesforce’s, Microsoft’s or Google’s cloud services and protect it from cyberattacks, Reuters reports. Some of its biggest clients are SAP and LinkedIn.
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The WSJ article further said that Adallom, which employs 90 people worldwide, would continue operating from Israel to beef up Microsoft’s cyber security-focused operations in the country.
