A Leeds-based听cybersecurity听company听for education听has been sold to an Australian rival in a 拢75.5 million cash deal.听
Growth investor听Tenzing backed an MBO at听Smoothwall听in 2017 to help it expand its听online听safeguarding technology听footprint听in the UK and US听and has realised a听5.6x return on its invested capital following the deal.听
Listed听Australian firm Family Zone,听an听online platform enabling schools, parents and cyber safety teachers to collaborate,听has agreed to pay 拢65m on completion of the acquisition on 12th August then a further 拢10.5m on September 1st.听
Smoothwall, which听recently听acquired fellow educational monitoring technology firm eSafe Global, is currently听used by more than 12,400 schools and around six million students in the UK and US.听
The combined company will now reach nine million students in 18,000 schools in the UK, US and Australasia.听
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“We’ve hugely benefited from the injection of investment, energy and expertise from Tenzing over the last four years; there has always been a real sense of backing us as a team,鈥� said听Smoothwall CEO Georg Ell, a former director of Western Europe at Tesla.听听
鈥淭heir support has enabled us to expand the solutions we offer to our clients, and it makes me incredibly proud that, under Tenzing’s ownership, Smoothwall has grown to protect more than six million children.鈥�听
Family Zone MD Tim Levy added: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Smoothwall. Our organisations share core values around keeping children safe, and our complementary platforms and culture create a unique and remarkable opportunity for synergies and growth on a global stage.”听