Coalfire to change ownership hands
By
Ross Wilkers
Cyber advisory firm Coalfire will go from being held by a pair of private investment groups to a single owner, also a private equity firm.
One of the government market’s go-to firms to get cloud products certified for use by federal agencies is changing hands from one group of owners to another private equity firm.
In a release Friday, Apax Partners said it has agreed to acquire cybersecurity advisory outfit Coalfire from The Carlyle Group and The Chertoff Group in a deal all parties expect to close early next year. Terms were not disclosed.
Coalfire provides assessment and other professional services to government and commercial clients on managing cyber risks. The company is also one of several third-party assessment organizations that evaluate cloud computing products and services as part of the governmentwide FedRAMP program.
Carlyle and The Chertoff Group acquired majority ownership of Coalfire in 2015. Two years later, Coalfire acquired Veris Group to add much of that work with other contractors on helping them navigate the process to get FedRAMP authority-to-operate designations.
William Blair served as financial adviser and Latham & Watkins served as legal adviser to Coalfire. PwC served as accounting adviser to Carlyle. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to the Apax Funds.