Geoff Lord (Tesserent)
Australian cyber security provider Tesserent has signed a joint venture agreement with New Zealand security provider Optic Security Group.
The 50/50 deal will give Tesserent an in-road into the Kiwi market, allowing it to expand its Cyber 360 strategy, which has seen it go on aggressive acquisition push this year.
Founded in 2018 as a merger of six entities, Optic is an independent, converged physical, IT and information security solutions provider in Australia and New Zealand.
The Group combined six physical security and IT professional service providers from both sides of the Tasman with 200 staff across 10 locations from Darwin to Christchurch and combined revenues in excess of NZ$100 million.
Tesserent chairman Geoff Lord will act as the founding director of the joint venture alongside Francis Galbally, the current chairman of Senetas.
“I very much look forward to working with Francis on a range of exciting opportunities both for Tesserent and Optic,” Lord said. “This joint venture paves the way for our initial entry into the New Zealand market, a presence we intend to grow significantly, both organically and via acquisition.”
UXC founder Lord stepped up as Tesserent chairman in January with the intention of shaving A$1 million off its annual costs to mitigate 2019’s A$4.3 million loss.
Tesserent has made several acquisitions this year snapping up Ludus and Airloom in August, and Seer in July.
It also secured A$10 million in funding in order to further its ambitious acquisition strategy in 2020 with deals that will support its Cyber-360 Strategy.
In September, it acquired Sydney-based secure cloud services firm iQ3 for A$17.2 million which closed on 12 November.
