Thales to buy app and data security firm Imperva in $3.6 billion deal

French defense and aerospace corporation Thales said Tuesday it is acquiring U.S.-based cybersecurity company Imperva from private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $3.6 billion.

The deal, set to close in the beginning of 2024, “marks a major milestone in Thales’ cybersecurity strategy,” CEO Patrice Caine said in a news release. Imperva focuses on helping companies, banks, universities and other organizations to protect their apps, data and other digital assets.

In 2022, Paris-based Thales acquired two European cybersecurity companies, S21sec and Excellium, for €120 million (about $130 million), from Sonae Investment Management. In a deal that closed in 2019, Thales acquired digital security company Gemalto for about $5.5 billion.

Imperva, headquartered in San Mateo, California, has about 1,400 employees worldwide and had revenues of $500 million in 2022, according to the news release. It was founded in Israel in 2002, went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011, and was acquired by Thoma Bravo in 2019 for $2.1 billion.

Thales said that after adding Imperva, its cybersecurity portfolio will emphasize three areas: identity management, data security and application security.

The Imperva acquisition is one of the larger cyber-oriented deals this year.

Private equity firm TPG announced earlier this month that it was acquiring the government services unit of cybersecurity company Forcepoint for about $2.4 billion.

Vista Equity Partners, another investment firm, completed a deal for security and training company KnowBe4 in February.