Pitch Best Deal 2019: Orange – SecureLink 

De beste deal van het jaar is meer dan het hoogste cijfertje in de krant en de kunst van het dealmaken is meer dan het opstellen van een contract. De Awards voor de beste deal zou dus niet alleen op de prijs van de deal gebaseerd moeten zijn, maar vooral op de – toegevoegde – waarde voor een bedrijf en de exit. 

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Name of the deal:         Orange acquires SecureLink from Investcorp.
Date announced:          8th of May 2019
Published value:           €515 million. 
Buyer:                           Orange
Target:                          SecureLink
Seller:                           Investcorp
M&A Database:            Bekijk de details van deze deal.

Involved firms and advisors sell side:
M&A:                            Jefferies
Tax:                              KPMG Meijburg & Co – Jeroen van Gool, Vincent Hellingwerf en Frank Lust.
Legal:                           Stibbe – Hans Witteveen, Sebastiaan Witkam, Lotte Boon, Ijsbrand van Straten, Emile Bongers, Barbra Bulsing, Julie-Anne Siegers.

Involved firms and advisors buy side:
M&A:                             Citigroup
FDD:                             Mazars Financial Advisory Services
Tax:                               Loyens & Loeff – Gijs Melching, Albert Heeling, Imme Kam. 
Legal:                           Loyens & Loeff – Wouter Kros, Philip van Verschuer, Lucas Hoogervorst, Maureen te Poel, Romy Menasalvas Garrones,                                               Gerda de Jong, Alexandra Wever, Joukje Baur. 

Pitch 

Brief description deal / Deal outline:
Orange S.A., a France-based listed company, provider of mobile and internet services and a leading player in the French market, acquired SecureLink, a Dutch-based company and one of the largest independent providers of cyber security services in Europe, from Investcorp, on a EUR 515,000,000 enterprise value basis.

Deal rationale:
The European cybersecurity market is growing rapidly and Orange was already a leading player in the French market through Orange Cyberdefense (€303m revenues in 2018, up 12% vs. 2017). Along with the acquisition of SecureData in January 2019, the transaction accelerated Orange’s strategy to become a pan-European leader in cybersecurity services. SecureLink was one of the largest independent cybersecurity services providers in Europe, with on-the-ground presences in Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Denmark and Norway.

What is the impact of this deal for the company?
[According to the Company’s CEO:] “Orange Cyberdefense, SecureData and SecureLink are highly complementary and share the same vision of the sector. The combined organisation will be in an excellent position to respond to the needs of the customers, partners and employees". Orange has the highest scale to anticipate and fend off attacks, as well as local defence teams in all the main European markets, positioning the combined organisations as the go-to defence specialist.

What is the impact of this deal for the direct stakeholders?
With this acquisition, Orange becomes one of the European leaders of cybersecurity with c.1,800 employees, more than EUR 600m pro forma revenues in 2018 and strong positions in major local markets through its unique European DNA and a comprehensive cybersecurity services offering. The acquisitions assist in delivering and expanding their presence across Orange’s 3000 multinational enterprises.

What is the impact of this deal on the society?
Cyber security is a growing priority for companies and institutions of all size. Today's threats are global, complex, and require matching protection capabilities. It is a growing market that requires both a critical size to respond to the complexity of attacks and close proximity to customers. With an extended European footprint and increased capabilities, the combined organisation will be able to address the growing and increasingly complex security needs of its customers on a global scale, and deliver strong synergies with the expertise and worldwide presence of Orange Business Services serving more than 3,000 multinational enterprises.

Why does this deal deserve a nomination?
With the acquisition of SecureLink, Orange becomes one of the largest providers of cyber security services in Europe. Cyber security is, according to Orange, a growing priority for all companies, small and large. Critics have previously noted that the sector is being hyped enormously. Moreover, American providers such as Cisco and Palo Alto dominate a large part of the market. With an extended European footprint and increased capabilities, the combined organisation will be able to address the growing and increasingly complex security needs of its customers on a global scale, and deliver strong synergies with the expertise and worldwide presence of Orange Business Services serving more than 3,000 multinational enterprises.

Comments Panel of Judges:
Deze deal is typisch een voorbeeld van een transactie die hoog scoort op de prijs en de strategische waarde: het was voor de jury zonneklaar waarom de Nederlandse partij zocht naar een internationale partner om verder te groeien in continentaal Europa. Dat een dergelijke consolidatie plaatsvond in een ‘hot market’ is logisch, al was niet iedereen er van overtuigd of een dergelijke consolidatie nu goed is voor de medewerkers van de overgenomen partij. De jury vond het dus vooral een goede strategische deal, maar kon verder niet veel lastigs of complex ontdekken aan de transactie. 

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