REG - Crossword Cybersec - Acquisition

Crossword CybersecurityAnnouncement

14/03/2022 07:01

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RNS Number : 5849E  Crossword Cybersecurity PLC  14 March 2022

Crossword Cybersecurity Plc

Crossword acquires threat intelligence company, Threat Status Limited

 

14 March 2022 - London, UK - Crossword Cybersecurity Plc
(http://www.crosswordcybersecurity.com/) (AIM:CCS, "Crossword", the "Company"
or the "Group"), the technology commercialisation company focused on cyber
security and risk, is pleased to announce its acquisition of the whole of the
share capital of Threat Status Limited ("Threat Status")
(https://www.threatstatus.com/about/) , the threat intelligence company and
provider of Trillion™, the cloud based software as a service (SaaS) platform
for enterprise-level credential breach intelligence has now completed.
Additionally, Threat Status's more recently released product, Arc, protects
the users of customer-facing applications from the threat of Account
Takeovers.  The acquisition of Threat Status takes the Company's portfolio to
five cyber security offerings, alongside its cyber security consulting and
managed services offerings. The transaction was first mentioned on 21 December
2021 in an RNS announcement.

Threat Status's platform enables businesses and managed service providers to
monitor data that has been stolen and shared on the dark web and criminal
forums which could harm the security of their business or that of their
customers. Threat Status has developed its subscription-based,
enterprise-class services to be turnkey, highly scalable, very secure and
ready to go. The platform is quick for onboarding new clients, with no
complex integrations needed, allowing rapid delivery of customer value.

Crossword Cybersecurity has agreed to pay a total consideration of £1.529m
for Threat Status.  This price represents an annual recurring revenue
multiple of 5.25.  The payments are structured as follows;

-      An initial cash payment of £500,210;

-      On the first anniversary of the transaction, a cash payment of
£281,758 and £171,942 in Company stock;

-      On the second anniversary of the transaction, a cash payment of
£125,000 and £450,000 in Company stock; and

-      All shares will be issued at a price based on the average
mid-market price for the three months prior to the date of issue.

 

Threat Status was founded in 2017 by Jon Inns, who is the CEO of the business.
He was joined by Ian Nice, CTO, and was supported by a third-party fund.
Jon, Ian and their team of developers and apprentices will join Crossword to
drive the continued commercialisation and development of Threat Status
products. For the 12 months ended 31 March 2021, Threat Status made a loss of
£54,864 and had net assets of £75,586 at that date.  Threat Status is
reaching breakeven, with 90% recurring revenue.  Cross sell opportunities are
being explored with the acquisition, alongside operating synergies.

Tom Ilube, CEO of Crossword Cybersecurity plc, commented: "Crossword is
pleased to incorporate Trillion and Arc into its product suite, completing our
aim of having five products in the market by the end of 2022 and adding over
twenty new recurring revenue clients.  We welcome Jon, Ian and their team to
Crossword and are excited about the opportunities Threat Status brings to
Crossword and our clients, as we continue in our mission to reduce the cyber
risks for our clients by providing a portfolio of innovative products and
services. This is our third acquisition in less than a year and shows the
extent of our ambition to provide a portfolio of subscription-based,
enterprise-class products and services."

Jon Inns, CEO of Threat Status Limited, commented: "Threat Status has
developed one of the strongest and most advanced credential leak monitoring
services in the market and we're looking forward to leveraging the
opportunities and synergies this acquisition by Crossword represents.  With
Crossword's experienced sales team and growing client base, and our proven and
trusted technology, we expect market penetration to accelerate, increasing
revenue and client protection."

- Ends -

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute
inside information as stipulated under the retained EU law version of the
Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 (the "UK MAR") which is part of UK
law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The information is
disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of the
UK MAR. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is
now considered to be in the public domain

 

 

Contacts

Crossword Cybersecurity plc - Tel: +44 (0) 333 090 2587

Email: info@crosswordcybersecurity.com

Tom Ilube, Chief Executive Officer

Mary Dowd, Chief Financial Officer

 

Grant Thornton (Nominated Adviser) - Tel: +44 (0) 20 7383 5100

Colin Aaronson / Daphne Zhang / Ciara Donnelly

 

Hybridan LLP (Broker) - Tel: +44 (0)203 764 2341

Claire Louise Noyce

 

For media enquiries contact:

Duncan Gurney, GingerPR

duncan@gingerpr.co.uk - Tel: +44 (0)1932 485 300

 

About Crossword Cybersecurity plc

Crossword Cybersecurity plc focuses on the development and commercialisation
of university research-based cyber security and risk management related
software and cyber security consulting. The Group's specialist cyber security
product development and software engineering teams work with its university
partners to develop the research concept into a fully-fledged commercial
product that it will then take to market. The Group's aim is to build up a
portfolio of revenue generating, intellectual property based, cyber security
products. Rizikon Assurance, Crossword's leading product, is a SaaS platform
that enables medium to large companies to assess and manage all risks from
their suppliers. Nixer CyberML, another Crossword product, is a new tool for
businesses that want to solve advanced security and cybercrime problems, such
as detecting and dealing with compromised accounts, fraud, and in-application
denial of service attacks. Identiproof, Crossword's most recent product, is
the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) verifiable credentials compatible
middleware and wallet technology. Crossword's team of expert cyber security
consultants leverages years of experience in national security, defence and
commercial cyber intelligence and operations to provide bespoke advice
tailored to its clients' business needs, including threat monitoring.

 

 

 

 

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