FireEye acquires iSight Partners in $200M security deal

Dive Brief:

Cybersecurity firm FireEye has purchased threat intelligence firm iSight Partners for $200 million, FireEye has announced.
The purchase will strengthen FireEye's intelligence-gathering capabilities on cybercriminals, corporate officials said. Much of FireEye's previous work focused on studying how victims of cyberattacks were affected.
It also comes amid consolidation and reduced valuations in the cybersecurity sector.

Dive Insight:

The deal makes sense on the surface: iSight focuses on the front end of cybercrime (namely, criminals and hackers), while FireEye generally focused on the back end (victims and the aftermath of cybercrimes).

It comes at a time when many cybersecurity firms have seen their valuations plummet. Reuters reported that iSight CEO John Watters was aiming for a $1 billion valuation when he talked last year about a potential IPO in 2016. This deal is only worth one-fifth of that hoped-for valuation.

Still, there may be a little more money in the deal. If iSight hits sales targets through mid-2018, FireEye says it will pay another $75 million in cash and stock to iSight shareholders.