TPG Acquires Forcepoint Government Business

TPG Capital said it will acquire the government business of Forcepoint for $2.45 billion, higher than what the entirety of Forcepoint was acquired for by Francisco Partners.

TPG is buying a unit of Forcepoint known as “G2CI,” which caters to government and critical infrastructure customers. G2CI primarily serves U.S. government and federal agencies and commercial customers who transact directly with the government.

Francisco Partners will retain a minority stake in Forcepoint G2CI while continuing to manage the firm’s commercial cybersecurity business as a separate entity after the acquisition completes.

Francisco Partners acquired Forcepoint from Raytheon Technologies in 2021 for $1.1 billion, making the sale of the government business a very nice earner for the private equity company.

TPG is a private equity company with a long track record in the cybersecurity sector, with early investments in Zscaler, which went public in 2018, and Tanium. In 2016, TPG acquired a majority stake in McAfee, and in 2021, it secured majority stakes in identity management firms Thycotic Software and Centrify, merging them to form Delinea.

Previously, the two private investment firms jointly acquired the integration platform-as-a-service company Boomi from Dell Technologies Inc. for $4 billion in 2021.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory review and other customary closing conditions, with an expected closing date in the fourth quarter of 2023.