Leonardo strengthens its international presence in the sector computer security with theacquisition of 24,55% of Finnish society Ssh Communications Security CorporationThe investment, with a total value of 20 million euro, is fully aligned with the Group's Industrial Plan and represents a decisive step towards European leadership in the field of Trusted Cyber Security.
In accordance to statement, Leonardo thus becomes the only industrial investor in the company, positioning itself as a key player in the development of an ecosystem Zero Trust “Made in Europe”, based on the principle “never trust, always verify”.
An exclusive partnership with a European vocation
In addition to the shareholding, the agreement between Leonardo and SSH includes a strategic collaboration governed by a cooperation agreement, which guarantees Leonardo theworldwide exclusive (with the exception of Scandinavian countries) for integrating SSH solutions into their offering Zero Trust.
“Cybersecurity represents one of the strategic development areas of our industrial plan”, he declared Roberto Cingolani, CEO of Leonardo. “With this acquisition, Leonardo increases its international portfolio, positioning itself as a point of reference to lead the Zero Trust revolution in Europe. The agreement with Ssh allows us to integrate their skills with our advanced technologies and specific knowledge of critical domains”.
Who is Ssh Communications?
Founded over 30 years ago, SshCommunications embodies the name from the Secure Shell protocol, which it developed and became a standard for secure communications on the network. Today it is a European reference in various areas of IT security:
- Privileged Access Management (Pam) for secure access to critical systems and cloud environments
- Proprietary quantum-safe encryption for the protection of IT and OT infrastructures
- Encrypted Wan Solutions for government and military environments
- Advanced authentication and centralized management of cryptographic keys
Ssh operates globally, protecting government systems, financial institutions and critical infrastructure in Europe, North America and Asia.
Operation pending the necessary authorizations
The operation that will lead Leonardo to enter the capital of SSH Communications is still in the finalization phase and will have to pass a series of formal and authorization steps. First of all, it will need the green light from the extraordinary shareholders' meeting of the Finnish company, called to approve the issue of the 13.333.333 new actions which will be signed by Leonardo.
Another fundamental point concerns the authorization by the competent Finnish authorities in the field of foreign direct investment in the defense sector, as SSH operates in a sector considered strategic for national security. In addition to these elements, the operation is subject to other standard conditions for cross-border investments in sensitive sectors, such as regulatory checks and technical and corporate approvals.
For the success of the investment, Leonardo relied on Deloitte as financial advisor for the M&A part and to the law firm DLA Piper, who handled the legal aspects of the operation.
Leonardo stock price down
Despite the announcement of the acquisition in Finland, the title Leonardo is down by 2,07 %, attesting to 46,79 €The decline appears to be mainly due to profit taking, after the strong increase recorded in recent months, also driven by theincrease in defense spending. In the last 12 months, in fact, the title has gained approximately + 75 %.
