Finjan Security sold to M86 in share swap

Nearly 15 years after it was founded, the data security firm Finjan Software has been sold to the U.S. firm M86 Security in a share-swap deal. Finjan has raised $80 million over its lifetime.

Under the agreement, M86 acquires Finjan's global operations, products, and technology, which merge into M86 Security, effective immediately.

The company will maintain a development center and operations in Netanya. M86 will also merge Finjan's security labs, Malicious Code Research Center, into M86 Security Labs, forming a comprehensive organization for e-mail and Web threat research.

M86 Security acquires the license to Finjan's patents. Finjan employs about 100 staff, mostly developers based in Israel.

Interestingly, when John Vigouroux, CEO at M86 Security, joined the firm in April 2009, he was president and CEO of Finjan. Recently, the company also hired Werner Thalmeier as vice president of product management. He had held the same post at Finjan.

Finjan is expected to end the year with sales of $20 million to $25 million, and combined with M86 sales, the new company will reach sales of about $60 million.